Burning Shadows
by The Moon's Berserk
Summary: It has been 17 years since the girls vanished. Axel and Zexion refuse to give up hope on finding them, even if the rest of the Organization doubts them. Sequel to Pyrofuric Berserk.
1. Something's Missing

**Happy New Year from The Eastern Time Zone :3  
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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Something's Missing<strong>

Tyler opened her eyes and squinted at the blurry image before her. Red swirled around a bit before forming together to make readable numbers.

6:15.

Exactly the time she woke up every morning these days, no matter how long she stayed up.

With a sigh, she pushed back her black sheets and sat up. It was still dark and there was nothing to do. School didn't start again for another few weeks. Her grandma didn't go to work until 9 and her baby cousin didn't get to the house until around 7.

She headed to the bathroom and once there realized, there was no need to go. There was no need to even be awake right now. Every normal person was asleep.

'But I'm not normal.' she thought while washing her hands for no apparent reason. It seemed like a good idea, after all, aside from having nothing better to do to pass the time, everything just seemed so dirty outside of her room.

She stopped to look at family pictures along the wall, not seeing herself in any of them, naturally.

She had a theory a while back that she must be adopted. Tyler hardly looked like anyone in her family. Okay, anyone at all. Then there was how they treated her as if she didn't belong. It must be true.

A movement in the dark caused her to jump and look in the direction. She squinted at the nothingness for awhile before shrugging to herself.

''Damned shadows… or maybe it's just my tiredness.'

The girl trudged back to said room and decided to settle back into bed and try to get back to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, the feeling that had been haunted her lately returned full force.

Emptiness.

Complete emptiness.

Not just from not fitting in with her family. Not just from only having one true friend in the world. That, she could live with. That's been her whole life. Yet, there's just this feeling that something is missing. Like she's forgotten something so important. But what is it?

Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she had to do a double take.

"Yeah, I need to go back to sleep." she said aloud to no one in particular.

Turning her back on the device and curling up once more, she pushed the odd sight from her mind. Drifting into dreamless sleep, she would never know that what she saw was indeed correct. Upon her clock, the digital screen screamed out the same numbers as always:

6:15.

* * *

><p>Blue eyes stared at the ceiling.<p>

He knew before even attempting to go to bed that he wouldn't be sleeping yet again tonight. It hurt too much. The empty feeling was unbearable.

He had only just gotten her. It wasn't fair. He hadn't known feelings were possible, especially not ones so strong.

In the short time he had known her, and the even shorter time she was his, he believed he had actually fallen in love.

Polar opposites but it didn't matter. They completed each other in that aspect. They just fit. As much as he pretended her boldness annoyed him, it didn't. He was just being ridiculous and difficult as always.

Fighting a battle that did not even need to be fought.

He waited too long. Held out. Fought the emotions that shouldn't have been there.

He needed her.

He had to see her, even if it wouldn't be real. Zexion closed his eyes and willed her image to appear.

He peaked out into the space before him hoping it worked.

There she was. Tan skin, long dark hair, orange orbs looking back at him. He stood slowly, as if the illusion was too fragile to hold.

"Tryxel…" he whispered, crossing the distance. The illusion, no, Tryxel smiled at him once he was up close to her. A hand nervously rose to caress her face gently. Tryxel reached out and touched Zexion's hand as it went down her cheek. She almost felt real.

Almost.

Just like that, the illusion broke, forcing a quiet, desperate whimper from the slate-haired boy. His illusions just wouldn't hold well these days.

Zexion sighed and laid back onto his bed. He needed to find her. Being here without her, not knowing where she was and if she was okay was miserable. He never felt so alone. Not even when his parents disappeared when he was a Somebody.

Hearts are what make you feel.

Hearts gave you emotions.

Hearts made you feel loneliness and pain.

Nobodies don't have hearts.

So why did the tears keep coming?

* * *

><p>Something felt off, almost always.<p>

She would see a flash of red and just have to go after it. Yes, she liked the color, but was that normal?

Her heartbeat would quicken and she would feel almost excited. Once the red was revealed to be a sweater or a hat, she would always feel so disappointed. But why?

It was so frustrating. Ariel had never been one to be so irrational about things. Well, a little, but not to the point of following the path of inanimate objects.

Then there was the name that just barely came to her sometimes.

A…

Ax…

Axe?

But was it actually a name, or just the tool?

It was so confusing in an almost tormenting way. All she could think of was getting to the bottom of what was going on in her head. It was always there in the back of her mind.

Axe.

The girl sat outside in the area that her and her best friend named "The Usual Spot". The name randomly came to them both at once and they used the term dearly ever since. She flicked on a red lighter she carried around with her everywhere and stared at the flames.

Her parents didn't want her having the lighter, claiming she was becoming a full-blown pyromaniac. Whatever. Everyone knew this, it was no big deal. It wasn't like she set random houses on fire or something.

It was just something about fire. The smell of it, the heat from it, it was just exciting. Exciting and comforting all at once. She couldn't get enough of it. If that made her a "pyromaniac" so be it.

Fire made her feel like there was more to life than just… living. And doing nothing. All the time.

It may not have really made sense. Hell, it didn't make much sense to her own mind but she felt that fire would never hurt her unlike everyone else in the world.

But lately, the fire made her think the thoughts all over again.

Heat.

Red.

Fire.

_Axe._

* * *

><p>A black and red chakram flew through the air and sliced deep into the bark of a tree.<p>

Axel screamed, hands fisting his red locks. The yelled trailed off into a frustrated growl. The redhead stomped his way up to the tree and ripped the weapon out of the thick wood.

He spun around and threw both disks into the air letting them zoom back at him full force like boomerangs. He caught them both, one in each hand. He barely winced and the sting of the metal digging into his palms.

He didn't care that his hands were ripped open at this point.

He didn't care there was blood oozing out all over the ground.

He didn't care how his own weapon injured him.

He no longer cared about ANYTHING.

All Axel wanted was Rexial back. Why? Why did she have to be a hero?

No, he wasn't mad at her. Technically she saved them all.

So why did it hurt? Why was he so pissed off at the world?

"Where are you?" he screamed at nothing, dropping his chakrams at his side. "Where are you babe? I miss you… why did you leave me like that? I-I'm being selfish I know…"

Tears suddenly began streaming down Axel's face. He pressed the back of his bloodied hands into his eyes, hoping to make them stop coming.

It had been so long since he last saw her. So long. In his whole Nobody existence, he had never cared about anyone so much. He thought he did at some point, but it was no where near how he felt for Rex.

Not even close.

His hands were beginning to throb. The redhead didn't even bother with a potion or anything. He would really rather just bleed out right here in the middle of nowhere. Right on the cold, cold ground.

The redhead dropped down onto the ground and leaned down to the ground. He stared at his hands with a blank expression as if they held the answers.

"Rex would be so mad… went and got myself all cut up…" he laughed bitterly, "she'd be rushing to fit it up right now."

More tears came while he sat and laughed ironically.

"I don't care how long it's been. I don't care how much we looked. I'm finding you. I will." He declared. Opening a portal, he dragged himself back to the castle.

He needed to find her.


	2. You're Here With Me

**Chapter 2: You're Here With Me**

"Could you please hand me the beaker filled with nitrate?"

Vexen slowly removed the test tube he currently had clutched in small tongs from the Bunsen burner. The bubbling blue liquid was beginning to turn an iridescent purple.

"Perfect." he said to himself before realizing he had still not received the nitrate he asked for. "Zexion?"

The boy seemed to be spaced out, staring at nothing in particular which was uncommon for him.

"Zexion!" Vexen yelled, finally gaining the boy's attention. "What is going on? You aren't still moping over that girl are you?" the scientist asked, grabbing the beaker for himself and measuring out the chemical.

Zexion glared, not quite liking the venom Vexen put in the words he used.

"Tryxel. Her name is Tryxel."

Vexen waved him off while placing the test tube back over the heat.

"Not the point. Life, or lack thereof, goes on. It's been 17, nearly 18 years. She's gone." he said coolly.

Zexion jumped up from the table he was sitting at causing several beakers and notes to fall over. With no regard for the fallen items or the elder's stricken expression, he walked out of the lab.

Out in the corridor, he took several deep breaths. He refused to cry anymore. Nobodies don't cry.

"She is not just gone." he mumbled to himself and sunk into the shadows.

* * *

><p>Axel wandered outside of Zexion's door tapping lightly.<p>

"Hey Zex? You in here?" he asked quietly. The door opened slowly revealing Zexion still laying casually on his bed.

"That still creeps me out dude." Axel chucked. He joined Zexion and they sat in complete silence for awhile.

"I'm sure we have searched every world by now." Axel sighed, stretching himself out on the bed, Zexion remained silent as he laid beside the redhead.

"Well…. maybe…."

"No! Don't you dare even think that way!" Axel shouted, sitting up to stare angrily at the boy next to him. "I refuse to believe that they aren't **somewhere** waiting for us to find them. You shouldn't think that either!"

His tone was filled with venom and his breath was coming in short huffs. Zexion sat up and glanced at Axel before looking away toward the ground.

"I'm sorry. It's just been so long. And-" He stopped talking then and lay back again. Axel simply watched his movements in silence.

"Can I be alone please, VIII?" Zexion asked in nearly a whisper.

"Oh, um, okay." Axel said, standing up. He didn't really want to be alone himself at the moment. Being alone allowed him to think to much, and he hated it. Somehow, watching Zexion just breathe was a temporary distraction.

"Sorry that I… blew up on you. Just, frustrated I guess." he apologized. Zexion just nodded after a few seconds passed.

Axel turned and sighed. Great, the boy is already depressed and sensitive. He probably just made him feel even worse which, in turn, made Axel feel worse.

He took a portal to his own room. He pretty much only went there, Zexion's room, and the kitchen when no one else was there. The rest of the Organization just tried to convince him to move on, except for Roxas. He mainly kept quiet about the whole situation.

Whenever he could, the redhead would venture to the Computer Room to research where Rexial and Tryxel could possibly be. Zexion sometimes would join him, They had grown closer since the girls disappeared. They were the only ones who truly understood.

At the moment, he just sat on his bed and curled up. Everything seemed so cold which was obviously foreign to Axel.

Suddenly, he became warm again, he glanced up to see a familiar face. Soft, green eyes staring back into his. Just the ghost of a smile gracing her features.

"Rex?" he whispered, hardly able to believe his own eyes. "Is that really you?"

She nodded and smiled wider. But something was off.

Axel sat up and walked over to her. She immediately put her hands out for him to hold. She felt real.

"Rex. I've been looking everywhere for you." he breathed out in disbelief, wrapping his arms around her. Hesitantly, she returned his embrace.

He just couldn't believe she was really there.


	3. Taking Trips

**Chapter 3: Taking Trips**

"Rex. I've been looking everywhere for you."

As he held on to her for dear life , afraid that she would leave again.

"Well here I am, Axel." Rexial responded. Axel noticed a sinister edge to her voice. That was odd.

He moved to pull away when he felt a sharp pain in his ear. The wave of agony caused him to inhale sharply and stagger backwards. Rexial's mouth was full of blood. She smiled in a creepy way, blood dripping off of her teeth.

Axel couldn't help pressing his hand to the area, but the sting was too great. He happened to glance down to see half of his ear laying at his feet.

"What the fuck?" he yelled. Rexial merely chuckled in response. Her green eyes darkened into a deep black that covered her entire eyeball. Axel blinked a few times, his vision going hazy. He heard warped footsteps coming near him just as everything went black.

* * *

><p>Tyler stood at her best friend's locker, wondering why she was taking so long to get there. If she didn't hurry, they would both miss their buses, She considered asking someone but she rarely talked to anyone. She didn't see anyone in her friend's class either.<p>

"Tyler!" she heard someone yell in the crowded hallway. She looked around, finding the source. It was a short girl that she didn't really like. Tyler sighed.

"Ariel, she, I don't know, she fainted out of nowhere. They called in an ambulance." the girl said.

Tyler's heart sank. She barely thanked the girl as she ran through the crowd of people chatting and trying to make their way home. She got to the classroom Ariel was in, in record time.

"Tsuin! Tsuin!" Tyler yelled, pushing people away to get to the girl.

"Tyler, please stay back," the teacher advised her. She shot him a look and turned her attention back to Ariel.

"Tsuin, please wake up… What the hell happened?" she yelled.

"Calm down. The ambulance is here." the teacher said back.

"How can you expect me to calm down when she's all passed out?"

The ambulance came in and went to retrieve Ariel from the ground. Tyler stepped aside to allow them to put her on the stretcher.

"Look, that's my best friend. Practically family. May I please go along with you to the hospital? Please?" she begged one of the paramedics.

"Sorry, that's not allowed unless you're actual family." he responded.

"It's right down the street!"

"Good, you can meet us there then." he said, "Now excuse me."

Tyler stood fuming while they took Ariel's unconscious body off to the elevator. She was so angry that she could feel hot tears burning in her eyes. She felt as if her whole body was tingling.

Why couldn't they just let her go? There was no way her mom would let her go to the hospital otherwise. She would have to walk to get there, and that involved crossing a highway. She was too pissed to trust herself to go alone.

"Okay, okay, everyone should hurry to their buses or after school activities now." the teacher announced to the people in his classroom who had crowded to see what was going on.

Students filed out of the room while Tyler simply stood there trying to control her anger. The teacher came behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. You should hurry before you miss your bus."

* * *

><p>Everything had gone black. That's all Ariel knew.<p>

One minute the bell rang and she was gathering up her and backpack and laptop, and the next, she couldn't see or hear anything. It was as if she were sleeping yet wide awake.

After the initial panic of feeling she had just gone blind and deaf, she realized that was not the case. She was in a random room that was pitch black.

"Hello?" she called, hearing nothing but her own voice echo back to her.

What the hell was going on? She took a step only to drop down into even more darkness. Ariel screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of wind rushing by her ears.

Hard, cold tile met with her when she reached the bottom. It hurt like hell. She was sure there had to be bruises forming.

Ariel stood up, nursing her arm with a wince.

"Rex?"

She looked up. Who was Rex? Better yet, who was down here in the dark? Where was _she?_

"Rex? Is that you? You look different." the voice spoke once again. Ariel squinted in the dark, barely making out a figure a few feet away from her.

"I-I'm not Rex…" she finally said back.

"What do you mean? Okay then, Rexial. Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

The figure stepped forward a bit, Ariel stepped back. Who was this psycho? Then again, it was dark, maybe that's why he thought she was "Rex."

"Come on, what's wrong?" his tone sounded a little hurt, "Wait… you don't remember me do you?"

"Where the hell am I?" she responded back. She had backed up so far that now she was against a wall. Not good.

"Well, we are in a portal. But if you don't remember me, then you don't remember a portal. I guess."

The guy was getting too close. Ariel's body was completely at ease though. That was odd. It was then that she realized she couldn't move.

'_Now you have to remember. Don't run.'_

And just like that, she took a step closer. She wasn't even trying to. She didn't know who's voice had spoken to her, but it was oddly familiar.

"Is it too dark for you? Maybe that's it. If you see me closely, maybe you'll remember."

Suddenly, a glow was before Ariel. It was coming from the guy's hand.

"How are you-"

Before she could finish the question, she looked up. Bright green eyes. Under them, tattoos that seemed so familiar. But the hair, unnaturally red hair.

"Axe… Axel?" she breathed out before everything went white.

* * *

><p>Zexion hadn't moved from his place on the bed the whole day. He knew it was ridiculous and wouldn't get him anywhere but, he was just so drained. He wanted to just lay there and fade away. He finally felt like he had a heart again, now he felt as empty as he was before.<p>

His thoughts just kept racing over the worlds they had searched. Even ones they had never been to or heard of before.

Most worlds were so infected with Heartless that, despite the fact he could never tell Axel, he felt the girls probably would have been destroyed the minute they landed there.

It made Zexion want to give up. It made him wall back up into the boring, heartless asshole he was just barely coming out of being. He was surprised Axel even bothered talking to him, but he knew it was only because he needed help finding Rex and he wouldn't let go of finding her.

No matter what the evidence showed them.

Thinking of Axel made him realize he hadn't heard from him for hours. He was probably hanging out with Roxas. The thought made him cringe. Roxas was not exactly his favorite person.

He had overheard the blonde talking to Larxene about how he was glad that Rexial and Tryxel were gone and he didn't understand why the two were looking for them so hard.

Of course around Axel, Roxas was so sorry and couldn't believe it had happened. He absolutely hated seeing Axel so upset. Whatever.

Zexion couldn't tell Axel though. He wanted him to be able to talk to other people again and have friends. Him and Roxas just now started getting along again. He just tried to steer clear of Roxas, including being around him or talking about him. It confused Axel but he never really questioned it.

Roxas lead Zexion's mind to Sora. He wondered what happened to… Riku.

Again, he cringed at the name. Anger slowly filled his chest but he forced himself to calm down. He had never literally hated anyone until he met Riku. He had left him in a horrible condition after he took that hatred out on him.

Sora had ran off to go find him before all the other drama began years ago and he never saw or heard from either of them ever again. But, darkness never really mingles with light.

It was as if a light was just turned on in Zexion's head. He sat straight up.

"Light!" he yelled, not really caring who heard him. He yelled Axel's name before taking portal out of his room.

The light had to be the answer.


	4. L'I'G'H'T:I

**This Is Like... 2 or 3 Weeks Late... I Deeply Apologize.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: L.I.G.H.T (I)<strong>

"_Riku!"_

_The voice sounded so familiar, yet distorted all at once. It sounded as if he were deep, deep under water._

"_Ri…. s… ay… m…. ere… fo… o… Ri… ik… Riku!"_

_What was that? That made no sense._

_He tried opening his eyes, only seeing faint swirls of blue and brown before everything went black again._

_Everything hurt. He could hardly even move._

_Faint sounds came to him. Almost as though someone was crying._

* * *

><p>"<em>Sora….." <em>

_The name barely even passed his paling lips. The brunette's eyes shot toward the boy in front of him._

"_Riku?" He said, wiping his eyes, "Riku, I'm getting you out of here okay?" _

_Sora tried his best to pull himself together before attempting to analyze Riku's state better. _

_He looked an absolute wreck._

_Sora wasn't sure if it was even safe to pick him up. He paused in his worry, cursing himself for not thinking of the idea sooner._

"_Okay, don't panic, I'm going to try to heal you okay?"_

_The brunette bit his lip in hesitation, he knew that the worse the injuries, the more healing would hurt. He had to help though, Riku looked a mess. He didn't want his best friend dying on him. But what if the pain was too much?_

_Reluctantly, Sora summoned his keyblade and pointed it toward Riku, casting curaga. _

_The minute the magic hit Riku, he arched of the ground, groaning in pain. _

"_I'm sorry, Riku, this is the only way." Sora yelled over the whir of magic and Riku's shouting. The sound was driving him up a wall. He was only hurting his best friend more. He could feel himself weakening after summoning it a few times and stopped the magic before he got completely drained. _

_Riku relaxed, his cuts and bruises had heal significantly, but he still looked horribly out of shape. _

"_Riku?" he tried, watching his friend's face carefully. Riku's eyes fluttered open as he shifted his gaze to see Sora._

"_I'm gonna pick you up now, okay?" Sora said. Riku only closed his eyes again in response, most likely bracing himself for more pain. Sora began to attempt at putting Riku on his back so it would be easier to carry the taller male. _

_Just as he stood up with the boy on his back, he heard various screams for where he had just come from. With the Organization._

* * *

><p>Blue eyes stared out at the waves, that day still haunted him. Constantly. Seventeen years had gone by so slowly.<p>

Sora returned to Destiny Islands, without Riku, only to find that Kairi was nowhere to be found either. All in all, he was alone now. The islands seemed so empty now.

The boy hugged himself and grit his teeth to prevent himself from crying. He couldn't let himself slip into that dark state. He had to keep himself filled with light, if he went into the dark… that would mean trouble for Roxas.

He shifted his position and crawled towards the edge of the ocean to get a look at himself. All he saw was the same exact face he would have seen all those years ago.

* * *

><p>"<em>S-Sora…" he tried to get the name out.<em>

"_Yeah?" Sora responded amazingly enough when Riku could barely even hear his own voice._

"_What… what is…"_

"_I don't know, Riku. But whatever it is, let them deal with it. We have to go." _

_Riku could feel that they were moving, but whenever he tried opening his eyes, all he would see is a blur of different colors. It made him so dizzy that he just opted to keep his eyes closed._

_All too soon he was knocked to the ground, nearly screaming in pain once his back hit the hard marble._

"_What the fuck?" he heard Sora yell. "Riku… Riku, there's a force field. I don't know what's making it happen… I suppose I could go check?"_

_Riku really wanted to respond. He could tell Sora just kept rambling to fill in the silence, but his mouth just wouldn't work for him._

"_Don't try to talk Riku, just, stay here. I'll be right back, I promise."_

_He could hear the hesitance in his voice, the quiver in his words. Riku's eyes shot open and he reached out, weakly grabbing Sora's arm._

"_N-no… ple-please…" he pleaded, eyes moving frantically to meet Sora's. If only his head would clear and he could focus. The brunette only gently moved his hand._

"_I have to get us out of here. Please. Just, relax." _

_Before Riku could get out anything else, Sora had ran off._

* * *

><p>"Sora!"<p>

The boy jumped, nearly landing face first in the water when the voice shouted out at him. He wasn't expecting anyone to come down to the beach where he was considering he had left his house so early.

A hand grabbed him to help him regain his steadiness.

"Didn't mean to scare you. You were staring at the water so hard you didn't hear me calling the first fifty times."

Sora looked at the smiling woman in front of him. She reminded him so much of Kairi at times.

"Oh," he brushed off his shirt and let the girl help him up.

"Sorry, Aqua."


	5. We All Fall Apart Eventually

**Chapter 5: We All Fall Apart Eventually **

That night, Zexion didn't find Axel in his room. He even asked a few people had they seen the pyro. After many shocked looks that he was out and talking, unfortunately no one had seen him.

Zexion chose not to press the matter. Perhaps Axel just wanted alone time too. But that didn't seen right.

'_Maybe he went to look for them without me.'_ he thought bitterly. Axel wasn't to be trusted most of the time. Who knew what he was up to?

The next day, the redhead was randomly back and in his room. Part of Zexion was glad he came back, the other half still felt he had plans that didn't include him.

Axel had been talking for the better part of an hour and Zexion was becoming very irritated. His mind could focus much one the other's words. Just millions of accusations toward him. To think, if he was looking for the girls, no, just Rexial without him…

"And I was walking around in the Eternal Night Forest and I almost stepped on-"

"Axel I wish to be alone would you please go." He said cutting him off mid-sentence. If he had been paying attention he would have noticed the look of pain crossing Axel's features.

"Right-o, bro." Axel muttered before teleporting out of the room.

Zexion remained rooted in his seat for awhile before standing up. He sighed tears once again welling up in his eyes and walked out of his room. His feet were on auto-pilot and he soon found himself in front of Tryxel's door. He stepped inside letting the familiar scent of _her_ fill his nose.

Everything was exactly as it had been the day she left. He walked to the windowsill and watered her night flower. He made sure he did this every day. She loved that flower and when she came back she'd want it as it was. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at her bedside table. It was a picture of them together. He was hiding his face but she had gotten enough of it to make a good picture.

He hated himself for the way he had been with her. When they found her he would treat her with all of the love and adoration she deserved. He blindly wiped at his eyes with the sleeves of his cloak and tried to stifle his hiccups. As he gathered himself together, he left the room.

He made his way slowly back down the corridor when he smelled something odd.

Something like dried blood and dirt.

He followed the scent to Axel's room and walked in. Everything was a mess. There were clothes everywhere and most of his things were broken. His bed had been collapsed and the mattress on the other side of the room. His mirror was broken from what appeared to be punches. Things that had been on shelves now littered the floor.

Zexion surveyed everything with wide eyes. He had no idea his friend had been so destructive. He walked forward and the scent was stronger. Kneeling down he examined an old cloak. It was covered in block dirt and the sleeves…the sleeves were covered in blood.

"What have you been doing to yourself?" Zexion whispered. He needed to find Axel, now. Where could he be? He sniffed the cloak once again trying to place the scent. Ah! The Forest! Zexion teleported himself there without a second thought.

* * *

><p>Axel opened a dark portal to the forest that had become a second home to him.<p>

Zexion had once again sent him away, not realizing the effect it had on the pyro.

Axel sighed sitting down next to his target tree. Its bark was marred and chipping where he had relentlessly thrown his chakrams in mindless rage. He gazed up at the trees and could just barely make out the stars in the sky.

This was one of the worlds that had been discovered in the search. It was a massive forest that was suspended in an endless night. How the trees grew with no light he didn't know. Didn't care. He was numb. Numb. No, he wasn't supposed to be numb he had a heart. He had Rexial.

In a panic he ripped his gloves off and shrugged off his cloak. Ugly cuts and scars littered his arms, evidence that this had happened before.

"I can't be numb… numb means no heart…I have a heart. I have Rexial." He whispered to himself before taking a small pocket knife out of his pocket. He hissed as he sliced his forearm.

There it was, pain. Pain was not numb. The blood showed that he was not too far gone, not too far from his love.

"Fuck Rex, I'm a mess…" He said to himself.

Tears made their way down his cheeks and he was surprised his tattoos still remained with how many he had shed. He giggled at that thought. He imagined him crying and his tattoos running down away from his face. Ridiculous. He had the weirdest fucking thoughts.

Axel looked back down at his arm and realized the cut had all ready stopped bleeding.

"Who the fuck told you to stop?" He growled in anger. He picked his knife up and made the deepest cut he had ever dared. Blood instantly welled up and ran down the sides of his arm and into the soil.

"Drink up mister tree." He giggled.

He dimly wondered if he was going hysterical from the blood loss he had sustained. It's not like he had ever tried to cure himself, and every day he came back here to let more flow free. He stared and suddenly remembered a time he was with Rexial and had injured himself.

* * *

><p><em>"Axel!" Rexial yelled.<em>

_The redhead turned around to see a heartless rampage down the street they were on in Agrabah. It knocked him over and his arm landed on a forgotten piece of wood effectively earning him a decently sized gash._

_Rexial seethed and the heartless suddenly blew up, causing nearby stands to collapse. He smirked thinking of how badass his baby was before she bounded over to him._

_"Are you okay? Does it hurt? Nevermind that, duh it hurts. Um. come here." She said leading him to a nearby bench. She sat him down and rummaged through her bag until she found bandages._

_"Couldn't you just use a cure or a potion?" Axel asked._

_"No, I didn't pack any. Besides, I think Vexen has been tainting all of the supplies with some of his experiments." She told him._

_He chuckled and watched her work. She carefully cleaned the wound and wrapped it up nice and neat._

_"When did you learn first aid?"_

_"I had a couple of little sisters before I died. Rowdy little bunch. They were always getting hurt." Rexial replied smiling softly. Axel nodded, not wanting her to upset herself over the past._

_"Come on let's finish up here and go home."_

* * *

><p>Axel choked on a sob as he remembered the rest of that day. They had gone home and ended up spending the rest of the day in bed, simply enjoying each others company. Laughing, kissing, talking. It was one of his dearest memories. And now she was gone.<p>

"_Fuck_ Rex! What am I supposed to do without you! You were my everything!" He cried out standing up.

"Everything I wanted, everything I _**ever**_ needed! _You, _Rexial Ignis!" His voice was near screeching at that point but he didn't care. Why would he need a voice anyway, no one talked to him anymore.

"I loved you! I love you! I always will! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST FUCKING COME BACK TO ME!"

His voice cracked and he choked back another sob and punched the tree. Bark broke off into his knuckles but he didn't let up. He eventually collapsed onto the ground crying. He ran his hands through his hair streaking blood across his face.

"Such a fucking mess…" He mumbled to himself.

Eventually he got up and hid his wounds with his cloak and gloves before leaving the forest in a dark portal.

* * *

><p>Zexion watched as his best friend left the world.<p>

He knew Axel wasn't doing well… but he had no idea it was this bad.

'_I can no longer push him away. We must resort to the final option, opening the door to the pure worlds.'_ he thought.

With renewed determination Zexion went off in search of who he would need on his side.

Yen Sid.


	6. L'I'G'H'T: II

**I forgot to thank Reku14 for writing basically all of that last chapter. Ah, I feel like this one was really bad. I apologize if it makes no sense or doesn't flow, etc.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: L. I. G. H. T (II)<strong>

He already knew exactly where Yen Sid would be.

He had heard of the Mysterious Tower before and done much research on the retired Keyblade wielder. He could easy go there, since heartless still sometimes appeared in the land.

Zexion didn't want to bother Axel. He pretty much invaded much of his privacy. He'd just think of a clever way to "find out" about Axel's deeds on his way to find the old wielder. _Then_ he would have a firm talking to.

The Mysterious Tower was located in a place that seemed to be void of all things but the tower itself. It was a small piece of land with grass and a few bushes. Zexion looked up at the tower before sighing and heading inside. All he could hope for was to not be attacked due to all the darkness he embodied.

Walking through the doors, he immediately saw a man in a wizard type outfit. He glanced up at the boy with no hint of alarm on his face.

"What brings you to these parts?"

Zexion was a bit taken aback that he wasn't acknowledged more hatefully. He was more so a man of the light it seemed-

"You are not completely filled to the brim with dark. I can sense it. You need help with something, correct?" Yen Sid asked, setting his full attention on Zexion.

The schemer blinked twice before stepping forward a little more.

"Well, yes, actually. I am looking for someone," he began in an even tone, "Two people actually. They… disappeared a long time ago and checking a certain place has only just now crossed my mind, which is why I have come to you."

"Is that so?" Yen Sid responded, closing the book on his desk, "How may I be of help?"

There was a pause. The worst he could do was say no.

But that saying only makes you feel better when "no" wouldn't completely destroy you.

"I need permission to enter the Pure Worlds, sir."

* * *

><p>Ariel didn't remember much of anything when she woke up. Only that she was in the hospital with her mother and step-father looking extremely distressed and hovering around her.<p>

A few days had gone by before she could stay focused on what was going on and actually remember a day that went by.

She sat silently in the car as her mother ranted about how the doctors had no idea what had happened to her on their way home.

"That's what they're there for! They train to be doctors. I'm not understanding why they can't tell me what happened to my daughter."

Said daughter was hardly paying attention. The only thing constantly crossing her mind was "Axel."

She had no idea who he was. Someone with hair that red would be impossible to forget. And it seemed to be more than just a dream to her. It was all too real.

"_Rex, I've been looking everywhere for you."_

The voice was filled with so much pain yet, so much relief. The voice was so familiar.

It bothered Ariel so much. The red flashes in her dreams, The whispers of "Axe", now this. A red haired guy named Axel.

Tyler had been in a complete panic from not being able to contact Ariel, even with updates from her sister.

'_**What Was Wrong With You? What Happened? Are You Okay Now? :'( !'**_

Ariel almost laughed at the frantic text but best friend was most likely genuinely a wreck at the moment. She couldn't get to the hospital because last she remembered, her mother's car had broken down. Even if she went to the hospital from school, Ariel would have been too out of it to calm her nerves.

'_**i.m fine i guess the doctors don.t know what happened to me.'**_

Well that wasn't going to help either.

'…_**They Don't Know? Isn't That What They're THERE For? -_-"'**_

Ariel chuckled.

'_**my mom.s exact words'**_

After awhile, Ariel considered telling Tyler about her dream right before she first came to, weighing out if she wanted to tell her in person or not. It was decided when her mother came in to demand that she rest and put her phone away.

Ariel laid awake that night trying to convince herself that Axel wasn't important.

'_He's not even real. Don't worry about it.' _she told herself over and over.

To bad that deep down, she couldn't help but feel like that was the biggest lie she would ever tell.

* * *

><p><em>Sora felt like his heart had been filled with rocks and then dropped down into his stomach.<em>

_Minutes ago he had discovered the force field dropped just as an eerie silence settled over the castle. Sora still didn't pay it much attention. He needed to get help from Riku. If all those bastards were dead, so be it._

_Now that he had gotten back, he found that Riku was gone. He was too hurt to move on his own. It was basically impossible._

"_Riku?"_

_There was still that silence that made Sora break out into a cold sweat._

_He took off, running down corridors, looking left and right for any sign of Riku. _

He never did find him in the castle or back at home.

He traveled to several different worlds and when he finally got back to Destiny Island, all he found was a guy with brown hair, a girl with bluish hair, and another guy that looked just like Roxas.

He also found himself looking the same as he always had. Like he never matured. Almost as if time had stopped somewhere down the line.

The three of them were friendly enough and extremely sympathetic to the fact that Sora had no idea where his friends were. They had all been separated at one point in a way that held no hope.

Sora felt like Ventus and Terra seemed familiar, more than the fact that Ven looked like Roxas. There was more that he just couldn't place. He'd once asked had they met before. All they did was look at each other with exasperated expressions and change the subject to the weather. Obviously something was being hidden.

All the same, they were nice enough people. Sora was just getting fed up with all the things that had been going on in the past few years. Being a chosen hero took its toll over time.

"I was thinking of heading to Hallow Bastion today." Sora said, looking over at Aqua. "Just to catch up with them."

Aqua raised an eyebrow.

"And ask about your friends again?" she asked. Sora remained silent for awhile.

"I have to keep looking for them, Aqua. You understand that, right?"

"Yes," Aqua answered, "and I also understand how much you're stressing yourself. Please, take a break. Let yourself unwind and relax."

This struck Sora the wrong way. No one was going to stop him from finding his friends. He stood up, fully prepared to leave when Ven came running down the beach towards them.

"Guys! We have something important to do!" he shouted. Terra followed behind him, laughing at his excitement.

"Yen Sid called us for a meeting. He wouldn't say what it was for, only that it was urgent and mandatory." the brunette informed. Sora frowned and looked at the excited blonde who was pretty much fist-pumping at this point.

"What if it's something bad? Suppose we all get separated again?" he asked. Ven paused in his dancing.

"Jeez. People said you were fun and chipper." he said, moving away from Sora.

"He's letting the darkness in his heart come out. That's not good if we're going to see Yen Sid." Terra commented, placing a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder.

Sora sighed.

"When are we going?"

* * *

><p>"I see no problem with letting you go to the Pure Worlds, but as a means to keep peace, I need to call for a meeting."<p>

Zexion nodded in understanding.

"It will be something of a trial. You're going to need to prove your reasoning on going there. I can read you, and your intentions are pure enough. The others do not have this gift however, they need to be convinced."

"Yes, sir. I appreciate this." Zexion said sincerely.

He bowed down to the man. Just before leaving the building.

Yen Sid stared where Zexion once was for a few seconds after he left. He decided to contact the Light heroes right then and there. It'd be best not to mention just what he need to talk to them about.

He could tell they wouldn't be very happy with the arrangement. But they'd have to be accepting to keep there own hearts pure.

He would just make this another test of sorts

* * *

><p>"Wait, so, there's a freakishly red haired guy named Axel that is looking for you?" Tyler asked.<p>

"Well, it was a dream for one. And he technically was looking for "Rex", but it was me? I don't know, it was weird."

"It is weird. But now I'm curious." Tyler said, staring into space. "What if someone really is looking for you? Kinda creepy."

Ariel nodded in agreement, laughing.

"Maybe he'll take me off of Earth." she said jokingly.

"No way! He can't have you. You're the only thing keeping me from letting my temper kill the world." Tyler laughed. "But, if he has a friend, I'll just go too."

They laughed. Ariel knew that Tyler would never judge her for her weird thoughts. After all, talking about "escaping Earth" was a daily occurrence. Maybe deep down, they thought they really could get away one day. Despite the fact that it was impossible in "realistic" terms.

"Ah, I gotta get to orchestra! " Tyler exclaimed, grabbing her violin from her locker. The two girls both headed to the music room since Ariel didn't have a class at the moment.

Tyler felt so relaxed with her violin. It made her feel almost like a different person. She had a passion for the violin.

When she played, her mind went off to other places. She could almost see herself somewhere else just playing to herself. It was usually a dark rainy place. She would play her violin under a rooftop that jutted out to protect her and her instrument from the rain. Her soft notes would compliment the thunder.

She didn't know why that was what she always saw, but she liked it, even though it made her feel oddly nostalgic.

This time, in her daydream, she finished her song and opened her eyes, a guy stood there watching her. He wore a black cloak, just as she did. His slate colored hair was wet and stuck to his face. She caught a ghost of a smile before he turned around.

"Who are you?" she asked.

But he was already gone.


	7. L'I'G'H'T: III

**Must credit Reku14 for most of the trial scene. She just writes things that fit this so well!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: L.I.G.H.T (III)<strong>

There was a knock at Axel's room door. He almost didn't open it; no one came to his room these days. After the third knock, he started to stand up.

"VIII? Are you in there?"

Not meaning to, the redhead rushed to his door resulting in tripping over a boot in the process and crashing into the door.

"Ah, fuck!"

As Axel rubbed his head, Zexion teleported into his room.

"Are you okay? I heard a crash…" he said, looking over the man before him.

"Yeah, I'm… why didn't you just come in here to begin with?" Axel growled. "I busted my ass to get to the door."

"I did not want to be rude and invade your privacy. And you could have just told me to come in." Zexion responded.

Only then did Axel realize Zexion actually came to his room.

"Hey! You came here. Awesome. Feeling… uh… better… or something?" Axel asked carefully. He wondered if this particular Zexion Blank Face meant "watch it or I'll make your life hell." Or maybe it was "shut the hell up imbecile, I have something to say and I don't like interrupting." Those two were hard to differentiate.

"Actually, I have something that most likely help our search," so it was the second option, "I was going to bring it up to you sooner but you were out. Would you like to arise from the floor?" Zexion asked.

Axel blinked, "Oh uh, yeah. I should."

Zexion held out his hand for him, this was getting so weird, but Axel took it nonetheless. The problem was, Axel weighed a little more than Zexion and nearly pulled the other boy down in his attempt to help him up.

"Thanks, so what was it that you found?" Axel asked, going to sit on his bed. Zexion paused when the redhead motioned for him to join but he went and sat next to him anyway.

"I talked to Yen Sid today," Zexion started, getting an odd look from Axel. "I thought maybe XIV and XV could be in one of the Pure Worlds, so I asked permission to get in. We go to a trial of sorts in three days."

Axel took a moment to think this over. This whole idea gave him an extra boost of hope. They couldn't get into the Pure Worlds, being from the dark side. Of course the girls were most likely there.

"Why hadn't we thought of that before?" he asked, more so to himself. Zexion shrugged.

"I was thinking we should take the Superior, as backup support." he said, standing. "Would you accompany me in asking?"

Axel stood as well with a smile, "Of course."

* * *

><p>Saix stared intently at Xemnas trying his best not to Berserk. There was no way he was even considering not letting him go to the trial.<p>

"This is my _sister_ we are discussing, Superior," he spoke as calmly as possible. He never questioned the man but this… this was different. "I have to be there. Maybe I can even help convince the Light Team to let them go."

"Then who will keep an eye on everyone else, Saix? They're like kindergarteners when there's no authority."

"Have Marluxia do it!" Saix yelled, leaning forward in his chair, clearly losing his temper.

"Everyone steps all over him! I'm not afraid of you, calm yourself this instant!" Xemnas yelled back.

Saix settled back in his seat and diverted his eyes from the orange ones across from him. Xemnas stared at the blue haired man for awhile and sighed. He was too loyal to him.

"Three days. Make sure you don't forget."

Saix's eyes shot up to meet with Xemnas's.

"Thank you, sir." he said gratefully.

"Yes, yes. Inform Marluxia that he'll be in charge, will you?"

Saix nodded and left to go find the pink haired man, bowing to his Superior before leaving. Xemnas merely leaned back and rubbed at his temples.

He had to let him go as well. After all, he only agreed to go himself because the missing people were Saix's sister and her best friend.

Believe it or not, he wanted to make sure Saix was happy. He was the closest thing to a best friend Xemnas had himself.

* * *

><p>"I gathered you all here for a very unique request." Yen Sid told the four Keyblade wielders before him. "A member from Organization XIII, if you could still call it that, came to me for help with a search mission."<p>

They had all met at Mickey's castle and were currently discussing the reasoning for being called there.

"What do you mean if you can still call it that?" Terra asked. Aqua was already scowling at the thought of helping Xehanort's group.

"Meaning there are two new members." Sora explained without a hint of emotion. "What do they want exactly?"

"You all will see at the trial. It will start whenever King Mickey is ready. For now, rest up. Leave your mind's open. Remember the light in your hearts."

The four were confused.

"What do you think he meant by all of that?" Ven asked.

"Whatever it is, we're most likely not going to like it. And it sounds like he's already on _their_ side." Aqua said venomously.

She could tell this would not be a peaceful meeting.

* * *

><p>Xemnas, Saix, Axel, and Zexion all arrived at Mickey's castle.<p>

"Everyone, lock your weapons away. It will help our case if we don't appear threatening in any way." Xemnas ordered. He summoned a box and his Ethereal Blades and set them in the container. "I'll leave this here with a binding spell, you'll get them back once this is over."

Saix and Zexion immediately added their weapons while Axel narrowed his eyes. At the looks the other three gave him, he sighed and put in his Chakrams as well.

"All righty then, let's go."

They appeared in King Mickey's throne room. Sora gave Axel a barely there smile and waved at him, while the rest of the Light Team scowled. Axel noted that Sora gave Zexion an extremely hateful look as well. He mentally sweat dropped. Well at least Yen Sid was on their side.

His gaze swept across the group landing on someone he thought looked familiar. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, much like Roxas. He sat next to a guy with brown hair, who was next to a girl that had blue hair and purple eyes. She was glaring hatefully at Xemnas.

Axel stared at them for a second trying to recall who they were. Yen Sid broke his attention though his deep voice resounding through the room.

"As you of the In-between know, I am Yen Sid. To my right is King Mickey, next to him being Sora. There are also three here whom I do not believe any of you have met. It was presumed that they were… gone, but thanks to the help of King Mickey and Riku they were found."

Zexion noticed the cringe Sora gave at his name.

"They will be representing the Keyblade Masters today, since Sora has not yet taken the Mark of Mastery." he announced.

Now it made sense.

Terra was Aqua's friend who Xehanhort manipulated into the darkness. Axel had actually met her friend Ventus.

"Will she be able to pass unbiased judgment seeing as her and The Superior's somebody were enemies?" Zexion asked staring analytically at the girl. It was a good question and Axel felt as if the answer was no. It was obvious the girl was against anything the Organization would want.

"I am a Keyblade Master. It is part of my duty not the let any darkness of the heart to persuade my opinions." Aqua said icily. Axel could have sworn he saw Zexion roll his eyes and Saix quietly growled.

"Now that, that is out of the way, state your case." Yen Sid said. Xemnas stepped forward.

"As Zexion revealed to Yen Sid, my long lost son returned to seek revenge on me. He was more powerful that we thought and had control over the castle and nearly took my Organization. In the final battle, we lost two of our members, XIV and XV, also known as Rexial and Tryxel." he began.

"They fought valiantly and if it weren't for them, Kohaku would still be alive,. They used their joint attack, Shadow Flame, to banish him from the castle. Unfortunately, the two went along with him thus sending them to an unknown world. VIII and VI have been trying to find them all of this time. They did not bask in the peace. Neither did Tryxel's brother, Saix. We are here today to ask of you to open the doors to the Pure Worlds. We cannot open them alone. We need the Light Key also. We do not have any hidden agendas. All that we want is to retrieve the two girls." Xemnas finished stepping back.

Sora was nodding in agreement seemingly all ready taken, just about forgetting that Zexion was there. Who knows? Maybe he could get him to agree to help find Riku while they were at it. Maybe even Kairi. He couldn't deny someone finding their friends.

Aqua rolled her eyes, but they all ready knew where she was on the issue. King Mickey and Yen Sid showed no visible emotion.

"Will the two boys please step forward?" Mickey asked. Axel and Zexion nodded stepping forward.

"Please tell us why we should help." Mickey said. Axel took another step forward gazing at all of them intensely.

"The name's Axel. A-X-E-L got it memorized? So you all seem to believe we nobodies have no feelings. You got it all wrong. I love Rex. When I'm with her I feel everything I thought I couldn't. She made me feel like I had a heart again. She was, no, she is perfect. She's loyal, smart, beautiful…everything. She even loved me back. The past years have been hell for me. I just want my baby back. I'll do anything you want… just please… help me…" He said, his bravado slowly fading to sadness. He stepped back, nodding at Zexion to say his piece.

"I was one of the members of Organization XIII that firmly believed that a Nobody could not feel emotion. I was incorrect. When I met XV I felt emotion. I fell in love. I want her back, more than anything." Zexion said.

Aqua shot up shaking her head in disagreement.

"That's impossible! They're lying. Nobodies can't feel. They can't love! All they want is to get their fuck buddies back. Maybe to torture the two girls to see what made them come back after Sora killed them all!" She exclaimed angrily.

Saix's eyes turned yellow, the Superior had to calm him down before he went Berserk. Axel growled small flames flicking around his body as he tried to control his temper.

FUCK BUDDIES? Rexial was the love of his life and this bitch, who knows nothing, is standing here ruining his chances! He tried to summon his Chakrams forgetting that he couldn't. Zexion placed an arm on his shoulder calming him slightly.

"May I show you proof?" He asked Yen Sid. The magician nodded and Zexion summoned his Lexicon.

"Zexion you were supposed to put that away!" The Superior hissed. Zexion waved him off before chanting a spell. Before them a scene unfolded. From Zexion's point of view, they saw Axel curled up on his bed sobbing uncontrollably. Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the one picture he had of Rexial. Zexion then stepped forward talking to him as the scene disappeared.

"Yen Sid can verify that this was a true memory. It was not conjured by magic, but from me. We can feel emotion." Zexion said glaring at the blue haired female. She huffed rolling her eyes once again.

"Well, this has been more than enough. Wait here while we come to a decision in the King's Chambers." Yen Sid said before they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Axel was breathing hard as well as Saix. This is why the light and dark cold never get along. They had come there peaceful and with the utmost respect only to get spit on like dark. Hadn't they left them alone for _years_?

Zexion stood silently, staring at the floor. This was Zexion Blank Face: "I'm extremely pissed off." Axel decided to brush aside his anger a little to comfort the other.

"Hey Zex, it's okay. Yen Sid and Sora will help us out. And if those two are in, I'm sure King Mickey and the others will too." he said, placing a hand on the other's shoulder. Zexion silently nodded.

"You two should control your anger. You're only proving to be filled with dark. How will that help?" Xemnas scolded.

"Us? SHE threw the hissy fit!" Axel yelled, defensively.

"I could have mauled her." Saix growled.

Xemnas just gave them disapproving scowls. "Just watch it. If she wants to be an ass then let that be on her. Be the better people."

Zexion nearly rolled his eyes at the man's fatherly lecture.

"Do you think they'll really grant us permission, VIII?" Zexion asked quietly. Axel sighed.

"I don't know buddy. I don't know."

* * *

><p>"Yes." Sora said with no hesitation.<p>

"Yes." from Ventus.

"Yes." from Terra.

Aqua shrieked.

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" she screamed. "You are all willing to let, to let** monsters** in the worlds of _innocent_ people? Do you want to wipe out everything?"

"Aqua, calm down." Terra tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but the girl spun around and slapped his hand away.

"Don't. touch me. Are you stupid, Ter? Think about this!" Black tendrils started to swirl off of her.

Ventus and Sora looked at each other.

"Yen Sid said their intentions were pure. He can read into their being, Aqua. He knows better than we do." Terra said calmly.

"Aqua, it's best that you calm down." Mickey told the girl.

"**NO!**" she shouted.

Her eyes flashed solid lavender and the lights flickered just before she passed out.

"Aqua!" Ventus called and ran to the girl along with Terra. Sora stood there in complete shock.

"And that…" Yen Sid said, "is what happens when you let the darkness in your heart invade."

* * *

><p>Yen Sid and King Mickey returned without the rest of the Light Team.<p>

"Your permission to the Pure Worlds has been granted." King Mickey stated, tossing a the Light Key to Zexion. It was a plain silver key that radiated with light, had Zexion not been wearing gloves, the light would have burned his skin.

"Thank you. I do not know how we could ever repay you." Zexion said.

"Just… prove those like Aqua wrong. We believe in you." Mickey said with a wink.

"That key has a spell that allows anyone to wield it, so guard it with your life. It is unsure how long this will last. The best of luck to you both." Yen Sid said to Axel and Zexion just before the two left.

"Wow, they let us in." Axel said in disbelief, poking the Key then snatching his finger away quickly with a hiss of pain. "Pure light, damn that stings."

"We may have a time limit. We need to go soon." Zexion said.

"First," Xemnas cut in, "I have some things you may need back at the castle. We'll make it quick."


	8. Our Journey Begins

**Chapter 8: Our Journey Begins**

"I've had Vexen working on these for quite awhile." Xemnas said as Saix walked in with a box and taking out two familiar devices.

"So, he's been making watches…" Axel observed with a raised eyebrow. "Can we go now?"

"It's not just a watch, it's a communication device of sorts. It works just fine it seems, but it's not exactly certain. Guess you two can test out the distance it can reach." Saix stated.

Zexion held one of them in his hands, fiddling with the controls.

"So even there, we can contact you here, possibly?" he asked. "Has he mentioned any bugs?"

"None have been seen. Fire-resistant, waterproof, and immune to freezing temperatures. It should be fairly reliable." Xemnas confirmed as Zexion nodded, intrigued.

Just then, a beep was heard and a holographic screen popped out of Axel's communicator. He giggled at the sight before realizing the other three were staring at him. He shut off the device and smiled sheepishly.

"Anyway, Vexen also informed me that there is only one Pure World that is inhabited with life that has been discovered so far. That would be Earth." Xemnas nodded to Saix who pulled up an image from Xemnas's computer.

"So, we look for this thing? What about the others?" Axel asked, completely serious now.

"The others aren't suited for human life. Improper gravity and oxygen levels." Saix explained. "As long as you just go to Earth, you two should be fine. This is the only place they could have possibly gone." Xemnas nodded in agreement.

"However, this is a extremely large world. It contains pieces of most of the worlds outside of the Pure realm. It will be a difficult journey." he said.

Axel sat back in his seat and clasped his hands together.

"I have hope. We can do this. We've waited long enough, this will be nothing." he stated confidently. Zexion silently nodded next to him.

"Okay then, all is set. I suppose you two can venture out whenever you wish." the Superior stated finally. The two made to leave when Saix cleared his throat loudly.

Without turning to look at them, he said; "Good look you two. May the Kingdom Hearts be with you."

* * *

><p>Axel and Zexion decided it was better to rest for the night before attempting to leave for Earth. They also set aside a little while to find more information about Earth, only to find it to not be anything out of the ordinary.<p>

"So, we should be fine. Nothing to worry about." Axel said after their research.

"Except the fact that we could get lost. End up in the wrong part of the world, somewhere with a language unknown to us." Zexion said flatly.

"Don't worry about that, Zex. Seriously, we'll find them. I just feel it, you know?" the redhead explained, " I don't know. We should get some sleep, big day tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Aqua woke up feeling as though she was hit in the head with a brick. She groaned and turned over in the bed she had been placed in.<p>

'_What happened to me?'_ she wondered, letting herself completely relax.

"Oh, hey! You're awake now," Ven said, peeking into the room. He walked up to her bed, "You had us all worried sick."

"What happened?" Aqua asked, voice coming out weakly.

"Hmm… we figured you wouldn't remember. Weird." the blonde said quietly, scratching his head. "Ah… how to put this."

"What?" she snapped, trying to stay patient. Ven's eyes went wide then he blinked. Aqua sighed. "Sorry, I'm just confused,"

"Well, I am too. You flipped out on the Organization guys then had some type of… inner darkness explosion. I don't even know. Ye Sid said it happens when you let the darkness take over."

Aqua felt like her heart turned to stone and dropped into her stomach, causing her to physically wince.

"I let darkness get the better of me?" she whispered. Ven patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Aqua. You're not alone. This happens to the best of people. Besides, it was probably only this once." Ven said to reassure his friend. Aqua nodded, not looking into his eyes.

"Come on. Get up and readjusted. I'm sure everyone will be excited by your recovery."

* * *

><p>"You look tired." Ariel commented, studying her best friend's face. "Actually, you've looked tired all day."<p>

The two girls were heading to Tyler's house since Ariel was spending the night during their school's spring break. Tyler blinked to focus before responding.

"I just keep having weird dreams. I end up staying awake trying to make sense of them. I don't know, it's probably nothing." she said.

"Weird dreams like what I've had? You know, the Axel thing?" Ariel inquired with a curious expression.

"Yeah, except, I never see the person's face. They never talk or anything. They just creep in the shadows in a black cloak type thing." Tyler responded. Thunder rumbled in the distance right after she spoke.

"Looks like a storm is coming." Ariel commented. As if on cue, the rain came pouring down. The two laughed and ran for the house before they got completely soaked.

* * *

><p>Zexion woke up to Axel standing over him.<p>

"Kingdom Hearts! I thought you'd _never_ wake up. You're a heavy ass sleeper." Axel said.

Zexion sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What are you talking about? I am usually a light sleeper. I doubt you tried to wake me." he said.

"I did! Like, ten whole seconds ago! Get up. Let's go!" Axel said, going for the door.

Zexion was glaring at his back when he turned around again.

"Oh, I packed stuff for you because I figured you'd be a dunce and attempt to take cloaks," he seemed to not notice Zexion's look. "We don't need to stand out that much so wear regular clothes."

Once he walked out, Zexion mumbled curses at him and got out of bed to get ready.

* * *

><p>Axel and Zexion figured that the way to the Pure Worlds was through the portals since that is how Rexial and Tryxel disappeared. However, this was more complicated than it seemed.<p>

"So, how the hell do we know where we're going when all there is to see is a bunch of swirls?" Axel asked as Zexion paced around.

"Ugh, there has to be another way. This is so tedious!" the slate haired boy yelled, kicking at nothing.

"Whoa there." Axel said, grabbing the shorter boy by the shoulders. "Calm down, I'll try. You just follow."

Zexion relaxed a little and Axel let go of him. He looked around and began motioning as if he was miming. Zexion glared at him feeling as though that wouldn't help anything.

"VIII…"

"Shh, I'm on to something. Trust me." the redhead said, never once stopping his movements. Zexion sighed and rolled his eyes.

Maybe Axel was hallucinating, too much excitement from being that much closer, but he could have sworn he saw little blobs of light floating around. Bright, white sparks that even stung as he touched them.

"VIII, we're going to be consumed by darkness if we stand around any longer." Zexion urged.

The redhead ignored him and the stinging on his fingertips. There's no way he was imaging this. Shortly, Zexion noticed what looked like a hole in the portal. He stepped closer to see what Axel was doing but all he saw was Axel moving his fingers as if he were sliding something and a growing hole.

"You can't see that, Zex?" Axel asked quietly, stepping back. He was squinting.

"The hole?" Zexion asked.

"No, the light." Axel responded, finally turning away to inspect his hands. Zexion's eyes widened. Axel's fingers had burns on them.

"What the hell. All I see is a hole." he said, looking at the boy in wonder. "Is this where we go?"

"I don't know. And if this is the place, I don't see how we'll survive getting through? How will I? You seem unaffected." Axel said.

They stood in silence for awhile. Before Axel suddenly put his hand through the light. Zexion jumped to stop him, but Axel stuck his other hand out to push him away. He bought his hand back in front of him, it was still the same as before.

"Maybe it's safe? Just too bright." Axel took a deep breath. "I can handle it."

"What if you go blind?" Zexion asked thoughtfully. Axel looked at him with a smirk.

"I won't" he said and then climbed through the hole.


	9. Strange Case Of Deja Vu

**Slightly earlier post considering I missed a week :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Strange Case Of Déjà Vu<strong>

"Tyler, Ariel. I'll be out for a little while." Tyler's mom announced from the doorway of the room the two girls were in. It was somewhat dim since the sky had darkened from the storm.

"Okay." Tyler responded, hearing the front door open and shut a little while later. She got up to make sure it was locked. Ariel shook her head.

"Your OCD." she laughed.

"Oh hush. Suppose she hadn't locked it and… and… some deranged guy came in with a wolf?" she asked.

They both got quiet. It was meant to be a joke, but there was something oddly serious about the statement. A clap of thunder made Tyler scream and dive to the ground. Both girls laughed once she recovered.

"Oh wow. Amazing. That was great!" Ariel said, doubled over with laughter.

The room they were in was once a garage and the glass that covered the opening was old. The wind outside picked up and blew through the cracks of the door.

"Okay, this is getting a little creepy. I want your mom to come back." Ariel said. Tyler nodded in agreement just as there was a knock at the front door.

Ariel and Tyler stared at the doorway, not daring to move towards the living room. Another knock came, louder this time.

"I'll go look okay?" Ariel said, leaving the room.

"Wait no!" Tyler said, running to follow. Ariel was already peering through the peephole when Tyler got to her. She turned around slowly.

"Um… no one's there." she said. "So, maybe it was the wind. A branch or something. Let's just go watch a movie."

Tyler hesitantly left the room. Passing by the window, she could have sworn she saw a very large dog sitting just on the other side.

"My imagination. It was my imagination. It was nothing." Tyler chanted to herself and went to find a movie for her and her best friend to watch.

* * *

><p>Zexion could have had a heart attack with all that was happening at once. If Axel got killed by the light…<p>

"Come on. Don't wanna 'get consumed by darkness.'" Axel said in a mocking voice.

"I do not sound like that." Zexion said, after getting through the hole. It was brighter now, only not blinding.

"Really? Did you hear yourself just now?" Axel teased.

"I will strangle you if you do not just keep walking." Zexion threatened. "Can't you not see anyway?" he snapped.

"I'll blame your outburst on hormones." Axel said smugly. "And actually, it's not as bright anymore. Kind of normal. Weird."

"Well good. The imaginary light won't kill you before I get to." Zexion said, walking forward. Axel smiled and followed after him.

* * *

><p>Ariel walked slowly down a corridor that was pure white in color. She gently ran her hand along the wall, assuring that it was real. It looked far too clean to be real.<p>

Maybe it was an asylum? All white walls. But why would she be there.

Her head jerked toward the sight of a red blur at the end of the hall. She suddenly had the urge to run, the feeling that she absolutely _had_ to catch up to whatever- whoever it was.

She ran, faster than she ever remembered running. She ran to the end of the corridor and into a solid figure.

"Rex, what are you doing running around like that?" It was Axel. He held his hand out to help the girl up. Ariel took it and stood up, brushing herself off.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Axel laughed.

"Me? You came outta thin air, babe."

Ariel felt her heart flutter when Axel said that.

"I.. uh… well…" the girl said, backing away. Axel reached his hand out to her.

"Come on." he said with a smile.

"I… I think I should go… um…"

The taller male grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer gently. He turned and led her down the corridor. Ariel didn't know what to say or do at the moment but she didn't feel threatened by Axel. Eventually curiosity got the better of her.

"Where are we anyway?" she asked finally. Axel stopped walking and looked back at her with his eyebrow furrowed. He tipped his head just slightly and answered with just as much confusion in his voice as his face portrayed.

"We're at home, Rex…"

* * *

><p>Sora found himself back in The World That Never Was. He didn't know whether or not he should go back to the Castle.<p>

He had been going in circles to find Riku, but he never once tried again with the Castle that he disappeared from. Something told him that wherever his friend was, that wasn't it.

He had also attempted to look for Kairi again and he doubted she'd be there. Sora refused to think the worst of where his friends were, but now he was getting desperate. Fear drove him away from the Castle as if some unknown truth would be hidden inside. He hated the feeling.

'_It's time I try to overcome all of this.'_ Sora said in his head. _'If things are bad, I have to accept them. Simple as that.'_

With a deep breath, Sora headed to the Castle with a hint of hesitation. He refused to look back this time.

* * *

><p>Axel watched the back of Zexion's head as he walked along, lagging a bit. All the light was making him tired.<p>

"It seems as though just on the other side of the dark portal, there are light portals." Zexion said.

"Yeah, and we're just as lost as we were in there. Do we need to rip a hole in the walls here too?" the redhead asked rhetorically, catching up to Zexion.

"Perhaps." Zexion responded, turning to look at Axel expectantly. Axel blinked back, slightly unnerved by the other's random full attention.

"What?" he asked. Zexion's face suddenly went way more blank than it had been before.

'_Shit, did I blank out something he said?'_ Axel thought to himself.

"You're the one that could see the lights to create the opening in the dark portal so I expect you to be able to do the same here." Zexion said with a bite.

"Oh! See, I don't see anything here." Axel looked around a few times to make sure and nodded. "Yep, nothing. Maybe I can only see light."

Zexion rolled his eyes and summoned his Lexicon. He flipped through the pages and stopped somewhere in the middle of the book. His eyes darted across the page as he read whatever was written there and began to chant.

Axel shifted his feet, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, are you putting a spell on me? Because that's a little harsh. I mean, the least you could do is warn me or something." he said, kicking at the ground idly. Zexion completely ignored him, never once breaking the chant.

Suddenly, everything around them shattered which startled Zexion into ending his chant and Axel to fall backwards. Shards of light started to rain down on them.

"Oops." Zexion whispered. Axel moved into the duck and cover position.

"What the hell did you do?" he yelled. Zexion concealed himself in the shadows and glancing over at Axel, blanketed him as well.

"I did a releasing spell… but I tried to turn it to work on us. And here we are." he responded, shrugging. If the shadows hadn't stopped him from being burned at the moment, he would have kicked Zexion in the throat.

"You could have killed-" Axel suddenly stopped talking as the light shower ended, leaving them in a darkened cave like area.

"Where are we?" Zexion asked in wonder, removing the shadows.

"You tell me!" Axel shouted, making an echo.

"Is someone there?" a voice called out.

The two boys looked at each other and quickly retreated into a darker corner of the room.

"Great, now we are going to look like criminals thanks to you." Zexion whispered.

"Me? _You_ put as here!" Axel said in a shout/whisper mix.

"I thought of no such place!" Zexion shout/whispered back.

Soon, the two were arguing, paying no attention to the fact that someone had walked up to their hiding place.

"Is everything all right? What are you doing back here?" the man asked, causing the two boys to jump back.

"Um…" Axel started, stepping away from the wall. "I'm… lost?" he said. Zexion shook his head next to him.

"You're lost? In a parking garage?" the man asked with uncertainty.

"Parking gara- oh! Yes! Ahaha. Lost in this parking garage. Is this Earth?" he asked casually. The man got a peculiar look on his face and backed away.

"Is this a joke?" he asked.

"No sir. We are in pursuit of a world called "Earth." We are not sure if we have the right location." Zexion added, not bothering with an introduction.

"…I'm calling the cops." the man said, pulling out his cell phone.

"The what?" Axel asked.

"It's a nice group of people that will tell you if you're on Earth or not." the man said with a smile and turned around. Axel smiled back.

"Oh. Thanks then."

Axel turned to Zexion who was eyeing the man's back suspiciously.

"I think we should get away." Zexion said.

"Why?" Axel asked, "He's going to help us."

"I think he'd be able to tell us if this is Earth or not. I have some theories but we need to go. _Now_." Zexion said, grabbing the taller man's arm. Axel didn't question it any further and just went along with him. They walked silently until the man was out of sight.

"Hey! Where'd you two go?" he yelled.

Axel and Zexion simultaneously began to run without thinking about it. They got to an opening in the parking garage and stopped abruptly. Zexion ran into Axel who had gotten there a second before him before noticing why he stopped.

Everything looked… different.

The way the pathways were arranged. Grass and trees were everywhere. Buildings as far as the eye could see.

"Zexion…. I think we've found it."


	10. Connections

**Chapter 10: Connections**

Tyler woke up to find Ariel all ready awake and playing on her PSP.

"When did you get up?" She asked her friend. Ariel shrugged.

"A couple hours ago, I was dreaming about him again." Ariel replied.

"What happened this time?"

"He just… I don't know. We were in some all white building and he said it was home." she said, not looking up from her game.

"Huh…weird…" Tyler stretched and got out of bed. "Hey we should go to the mall today. I'm really craving a smoothie."

Ariel laughed seeming to lighten up and nodded. They got ready and headed out not much longer after that.

Just as they were heading out the door, Tyler thought she saw a flash of purple light. She jerked her head in the direction of the brightness, only seeing her violin case sitting normally where she had last left it. Right next to the living room TV, completely untouched.

She shook her head, brushing off what she thought she saw and left the house.

* * *

><p>The Castle wasn't protected this time, completely open for Sora to get into now, but still he was nervous.<p>

Suppose they attacked him? Most of the Organization members were traitorous at heart. His help could have meant nothing to them, but it was worth the risk.

The brunette paced toward the door with hesitation in his step. Why did he have this fear? It should be no problem to-

Sora jumped, summoning his Keyblade when someone randomly appeared before him. The blonde raised his hands in surrender and stepped back with a smile.

"I sensed you here,' Roxas said, "you seemed… hesitant. Thought I'd help."

Sora put his Keyblade away, sighing with relief.

"I'm looking for someone. Riku." he said. Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Why would he be here?" he questioned.

"This is where I last saw him, when Zexion hurt him. I don't think he's here though, I just need to find him."

Roxas scratched his head. He hadn't seen his other half's best friend and no one else had ever mentioned him.

"Hmm… wanna go ask the others?" Roxas asked. Sora nodded.

The two made their way into the Castle, running into Xigbar on the way.

"Hey! Little Keyblade dudes. What's with the meeting?" he asked, standing partially in their way.

"He needs help," Roxas said.

"Finding Riku." Sora finished.

"The little creep that got repli- I mean, your pal?" Xigbar asked, smiling sheepishly at his slip up. Sora forced the glare to soften from his face.

"Yes, my **pal**. Have you seen him maybe?" he asked tiredly.

"I think I have, about a week ago. I was trying to do some recon in some Angel world. Couldn't stay long though because there was too much light. I thought I saw him, but it was so bright." Xigbar responded, wincing just thinking about the light.

"I have to go there," Sora said, perking up, "Thanks."

"No problem Li'l Keyblader Twin." Xigbar said, disappearing through a portal. Roxas turned to Sora.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked. Sora shook his head.

"It's not good for us to stay close for too long. And you heard Xigbar, there's too much light." Roxas scoffed.

"Would you like my company or not, Sora?" he asked again. Sora nodded, seeing that Roxas was going to be stubborn about the situation.

"Okay then," Roxas said, "let's go."

* * *

><p>"We don't even know where we're going." Zexion said, rushing to match Axel's quick, determined strides.<p>

"Nope, but intuition says we should go this way." Axel said, not looking back or slowing down at all. Zexion sighed.

"…You know, they say intuition is a woman's trait." he said after a short while.

"You're just trying to annoy me. I could just portal off somewhere I leave you stranded." Axel said, making to open a portal. Nothing happened.

"Um…"

"What? Forget how to make a portal?" Zexion asked sarcastically.

"Shut your condescending ass up. I haven't forgotten anything. I'm not stupid you know." Axel snapped.

"Sure," Zexion said, rolling his eyes. He knew he was being an asshole, but it was too late at this point.

"Why the fuck can't I summon my Chakrams?" Axel shouted, making a woman near them speed away.

"Hey, calm yourself. I was joking." Zexion said, attempting to make the pyro stop making a scene. He was actually pissed off. "Wait, you were going to attack me?"

"Damn straight! Argh, I have no time for this." the redhead said angrily, turning and storming off to a large building.

"VIII, we don't know what this place is!" Zexion said for the millionth time. Axel ignored the other boy and kept walking.

Zexion just sighed and followed silently.

* * *

><p>"Ah! Let's go to Borders!" Tyler said, jumping up and down.<p>

"I thought you wanted a smoothie?" Ariel asked.

"That was before I remember Borders!" Tyler said, starting to run off toward her favorite book store.

Ariel walked in already knowing that Tyler had ran right to the anime section. She headed over and started skimming through manga until red caught her attention. She had just missed it, but it looked like it was attached to someone's head.

'_Probably a hat. Axel is a dream person.' _she told herself.

"Tsuin, let's look in another section, if you're done here." Tyler suggested. Ariel agreed. Turning the corner, Tyler ran into a boy who was about her height and had odd colored hair. His purple and black attire made his hair make more sense.

'_Probably emo.'_ she thought.

"Sorry." she said, backing up. The boy's eye that wasn't covered by his hair widened and he stepped back.

"I- you- no…" was all he stuttered before turning pink in the face and rushing in the opposite direction.

"What a fucking weirdo." Ariel said. Tyler nodded in agreement, brushing it off and returning to looking at books.

* * *

><p>Zexion rushed over to Axel and tugged at his shirt.<p>

"I… I… I…"

Axel was tempted to slap him. A stuttering Zexion was just weird, and he was stretching his shirt out of place.

"I… Tryxel. It was Tryxel. It had to be-" Axel grabbed Zexion by the collar, stopping his sentence.

"Was. Rex. With. Her?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

"I do not remember. I am pretty sure she-" Zexion started, but Axel had already turned wildly, knocking over an entire shelf of books. Zexion covered his face as Axel yelled "Rex" at the top of his lungs.

"Sir! SIR! Please calm down! What is his problem?" the manager asked, turning to Zexion.

'Rex! Zexion! Why didn't you stop them?" he asked loudly, running and knocking over a little kid.

"You and that mad man are going to have to leave or I will call security." the manager said in an outrage.

"Yes madame. I will go after him immediately. I apologize for his outburst." Zexion said, bowing to the woman before running to chase Axel.

* * *

><p>From where they were, Tyler and Ariel heard a loud crash, seeing a book shelf fall over.<p>

"Rex? Rex! Where are you? I'm coming for you babe!"

The two girls looked at each other in terror.

"We're gonna die." Tyler said, something the two always said in odd situations.

"We are," Ariel said, grabbing Tyler's arm, "Let's get out of here."

Axel got to the entrance of the bookstore just in time to see their two retreating forms disappear through the doorway.

"VIII, we have to leave now or they will send someone to get us." Zexion said, pulling Axel out of the store.

"Where did they go?" Axel asked in frustration.

"You probably scared them off." Zexion said, accusingly.

"Why didn't you just stop them?" Axel asked. "They were right in front of you!"

"Tryxel did not seem to recall who I was. I ran into her and she only apologized." Zexion said. Axel took a second to let his words sink in.

"Either it was not really her or they forgot us." Zexion said, trying to keep his tone even.

"They, they can't forget us Zex. Maybe she just didn't recognize you without your cloak. Or maybe…" Axel trialed off. If Tryxel forgot Zexion, Rexial most likely forgot him.''

"We know they're nearby." Axel said. "We just have to find them again."

"I strongly believe they have forgotten us, making this far more difficult." Zexion said. Axel sighed.

"I know. But we're going to have to try anyway." Axel responded. "They have to remember, no matter what."


	11. New Beginnings

**Chapter 11: New Beginnings**

"The portal is not going to hurt you!"

"It's made of pure darkness!"

Roxas rolled his eyes at Sora.

"It's not pure darkness. Come on," he said.

"I say we should use the Gummi ship. I mean, I can't just leave it here anyway." Sora said. Roxas visibly paled at the suggestion.

"No way, I-if I have to go into pure light, y-you have to go into pure dark. It's only fair," Roxas said, his voice coming out shaky. Sora blinked at him before realization hit.

"Thought it wasn't pure dark?" he said with a smug grin, "and you volunteered to do this. You're scared aren't you? Awww, you're afraid!"

"Am not!" Roxas shouted, pushing Sora's hands that were poking at his ribs away.

"It's okay, Roxas. I doubt that the ship can fall," the brunette said, patting his shoulder. "Besides, do you even know were this world is?"

Roxas flushed then drooped in defeat.

"Where's your stupid ship?"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Zex," Axel said as the two wandered aimlessly outside. It felt like they had been walking for an eternity, "where are we gonna sleep?"<p>

Zexion stopped walking, inspecting a nearby bench before sitting on it and sighing deeply.

"I do not know, but I am spent for the day. World travel is tiring." he said. Axel settled down next to him.

"Yeah, so is destroying a book store in the pursuit of love." he said. Zexion took the time to shoot Axel a look of disdain before crossing his arms. "Hey, what's that look? At least I attempted, _bro_."

"That is beside the point at the moment. We do not know where they are right now and I refuse to live in the wild." Zexion said.

"…Didn't you get left in the wild? So like, you would have experience…"

Zexion stood up and walked away.

"Dude! It wasn't supposed to be an insult! Come back here!" Axel called. He got up and started after the shorter boy. "Where are you even going?"

"Away from you." was his short response.

"Zexion, I went too far. I'm-" Axel stopped and looked at the sky. "Can you summon your Lexicon?"

Zexion stopped and lifted his hands. His body went completely rigid.

"No," he said tensely.

"Then, is this normal for Earth?" Axel responded pointing upwards. People around the area began screaming as a giant, purple, swirling vortex opened up in the sky.

"I.. do not know…" Zexion said, staring at the sky in awe. "I swear it is not me. I cannot even conjure up a simple illusion."

"Maybe… hey Zex, calm down." Axel said.

"I am calm!" Zexion said heatedly. Axel shook his head.

"Take deep breaths, seriously."

The wind around them picked up, throwing twigs, leaves, and dirt everywhere. People were running in the streets, screaming, dashing into nearby buildings, jumping into cars, gripping onto telephone poles. Zexion closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A tree was uprooted.

Axel was anxious, hoping his theory was right. He wanted to rush Zexion to calm down, but that wouldn't help anything.

"Hey! You two! Get in the car!"

Axel spun around to see a blonde woman gesturing to them from a pink machine on the curb. He glanced back at the sky, seeing the vortex shrink little by little.

"It's right over you! Can you hear me?" she shouted, getting out of the wheel object. Axel sighed at this woman trying to be the hero. He didn't want her to disturb Zexion, but he had to pretend to be afraid to blend into this new world.

"Stay calm. Zex. Keep breathing. Thinking happy thoughts. It's working. Just breath and relax." he said, grabbing Zexion's hand and leading him towards the woman.

"Sorry that my car is so small, you're really tall." she said as Axel situated Zexion into the seat.

'_A car… okay?'_ Axel thought distractedly as he kept whispering calming words to Zexion.

"I don't know what that thing is. That was horrifying. It seems to be going away now though. So sca- what's wrong with him? Is he okay?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. Just… a…. panic attack." Axel said, watching the purple mess fade from the sky as Zexion breathed evenly, suddenly falling asleep and leaning onto him.

"Oh, okay. Anything I can do?" she asked with concern. Axel shook his head.

"He's fine now."

"…Well, I can drop you guys off? Where do you live?" she asked. "Oh, I'm Samantha by the way."

"Axel," the redhead responded with a small smile, "and about that… we don't really have anywhere to go."

The woman gasped and stopped the car.

What? What happened?" she asked, a tad overdramatically.

"It's truly a long story." Axel said.

"I'm so sorry…" the woman said. After a long pause she added, "you guys can stay with me for a while. I really wouldn't mind."

Axel looked over at Zexion's sleeping form. They really had nowhere else to go and she seemed harmless.

"Thanks. We really appreciate it."

* * *

><p>It was so dark.<p>

Everything ached.

He didn't even know where he was or what was going on. There was a light, so far from him. He would never reach it.

He opened his mouth to call out, but no sound came out. His tongue was dried out to the point were his attempts to scream only caused it to split. Even the bitter, coppery liquid was a relief to his parched throat.

He was too weak to move. Too weak to even fully open his eyes. He would never reach that light.

Why wasn't he dead already?

_You are at the end of your journey here._

He struggled to open his eyes again and look around for the source of the voice.

_Rest. Do not move. Listen carefully. Give in._

Just as the words were spoken, the temperature of the room dropped to below freezing. The shivering it cause made his pain even worse.

_Give in._

It seemed darker. The air became more sinister. He opened his eyes and watched dark clouds swirl across what little light he could see.

_So much more is in store for you. You will be more powerful. Just give in. Come on, don't fight it._

It felt as though something was being ripped from his chest. A scream was forced from his throat, the voice he thought would be lost forever.

_Let go._

The pain was too much. What was going on?

He writhed on the ground. His head banged against the floor, making him dizzy. Why couldn't he just die and end it all? No one would ever find him. He wanted it to end.

_Stop fighting it and your pain will stop._

"**I don't. know. how!**"he screamed.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

No pain.

No convulsing.

Just a sense of emptiness.

_Good job. You gave in. Welcome to your new life…_

_Riku._


	12. Nice To Meet You

**Now We're Getting Somewhere :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Nice To Meet You<strong>

Zexion woke up and immediately wished he hadn't.

His brain was pounding the inside of his skull and every part of his body felt like it had been crushed.

He groaned and sat up a little, looking around in the dark. His eyes adjusted quickly as his eyes skimmed the room.

Nothing was familiar. The last thing he remembered was running into Tryxel at the mall. He entertained the idea of having been dreaming his entire life when a voice startled him.

"Zexion?"

Something moved in the dark and Zexion had to focus to realized that it was Axel.

"Where are we?" he asked groggily.

"This girl named Samantha picked us up while you were… controlling that thing. What even happened, dude? I was getting worried." Axel answered, sitting on the end of the bed, cross legged.

Zexion opened his mouth to say something, but got lost in a daze. Axel blinked at him, waiting for him to snap out of it. After a few minutes, he waved a hand in front of his face. The slate haired boy jumped and shook his head.

"Sorry… I don't remember…" he said, avoiding eye contact with the redhead. Axel studied his face for awhile before standing up.

"Okay then, I can sleep now that I'm sure that you're alive." He stretched before getting back on the floor.

"Wait, that can't be comfortable." Zexion said. "Sleep on the bed."

"…But you're there."

Zexion groaned and flopped down, covering himself up.

"Fine. See if I attempt to be nice again."

Axel sighed and stood up.

"Move over, Mr. Grumpypants."

* * *

><p>Flying was not something that Roxas enjoyed. It wasn't the height or the flying itself, it was the combination of the two. And Sora flying like a torpedo was not helping his nerves any.<p>

"Can't you fly, Roxas? Tinkerbell magic?" Sora finally questioned, giving the occasional side glance at the blonde. He was gripping the seats as if his life depended on it.

"I could control my own movements," he said through his teeth, trying to remain cool.

Sora laughed at his other half before taking a quick, excited intake of breath and turning sharply. Roxas screamed as the Gummi ship plunged leftward toward a particularly bright world.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he screeched as Sora laughed again.

"We're here I think, and," Sora paused to look over at Roxas, "it's funny when you're scared."

Roxas glared at him as they landed on the pale green grass on the outskirts of the world. The city in the near distance looked serene from where they were parked.

"It's too bright." Roxas complained. Sora shushed him and pushed a button that caused the top to retract on the ship. He stepped out, raising his arms above his head to stretch before surveying the area.

"See, there? They are all gathering in that one spot. Let's go." Sora pointed out once Roxas stepped on solid ground.

"Wait, wait. Go right into a crowd of locals?"

"Yeah, why not?" Sora asked.

"Won't they, I don't know, freak out?" Roxas asked.

"Only one way to find out, right?" the brunette responding, heading toward the crowd. Roxas sighed and followed him silently.

The crowd was oddly silent other than the soft murmur of everyone whispering at once. All of the people's pale colored eyes were transfixed to the ground at whatever they had gathered around. The citizens were rotating as if to give everyone an equal chance to look at the object before them.

The two looked at each other before Sora began pushing his way forward.

"Sora! Cut that out!" Roxas tried to whisper but ended up half shouting. Half of the crowd turned to look at him as the other half parted the way for Sora. None of them had the slightest change in facial expression.

Freaked out, Roxas quickly followed Sora to the front of the crowd. Sora stopped and tilted his head in confusion.

"What is it?" Roxas asked. Sora shook his head and moved aside. Two crystals emitted bright orange and red light from the ground.

"I think I've seen these somewhere…" Roxas said, turning to someone. "Excuse me, where did this come from?" he asked, gesturing toward the colorful items.

The strangely pale girl pointed at the sky and said nothing more. Roxas looked to Sora who had gotten a certain glint in his eye.

"Have you seen a guy with silver hair? Aqua colored eyes? About this tall?" he asked. The woman shook her head and Sora's shoulders slumped.

"Sorry." she said with a soft voice and bowed to him before stepping away.

He went from person to person asking about Riku. Some of the citizens only spoke Japanese which was still no problem. The problem was that Riku had not been spotted by anyone.

"Maybe he left by now, Sora." Roxas said. He looked pale and sweaty.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked with concern lacing his tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey," Roxas looked toward were a few people still lingered to look at the crystals. No one had touched them. "Do you think we should get those? I feel like it's important."

Sora shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

Roxas walked over and picked them up, glancing at the five people that still stood by. They watched him expressionlessly as he held them up.

"I'm… just gonna, take these…. Bye." No one reacted as he walked away.

"Wow, these people are so weird." Roxas said, heading back to the Gummi ship.

"You said it."

* * *

><p>"And I have to stay here, why?" Zexion asked with irritation.<p>

Axel decided research should be done to figure out how to get in contact with the girls. He had also decided that he would be the one to do said research while Zexion stayed at the house with Samantha.

"You have no control over yourself, that's why." Axel responded.

"What the fuck?" Zexion retorted. Axel literally flinched and looked at Zexion in horror. "I have control over myself. What the hell do you mean I have no control over myself?"

Zexion stood up halfway through his speech and his voice had reached a peak of near hysteria. Axel rushed over and grabbed the shorter boy's shoulders.

"Shhh! Shh… calm down. See what I mean? I don't know what your deal is, maybe it's the Earth air, but you need to chill. We don't need another incident."

"What incident?" Zexion was at least attempting to stay level this time.

"What do you mean 'what incident'? You opened a dark vortex yesterday." Axel said.

"I told you," Zexion paused to shake Axel off of him who stepped back with a sheepish smile, "I do not remember."

"Wait, you don't remember it happening? I thought you meant you didn't remember how you controlled it."

"I remember seeing Tryxel. That is all."

Axel stood still thinking for a moment.

"All the more reason you should stay."

Zexion made a face and opened his mouth to protest, but Axel shushed him again.

"Please, here me out. I'm looking out for you, Zex. Just, stay here. For today." Axel pleaded. Zexion sighed.

"Fine."

"Thanks! Just, keep Samantha company and be nice." Axel suggested.

"Can I just stay in here until you get back?" Zexion deadpanned.

"No! She went out of her way to let us stay here. Be nice and respectful." Axel said.

"Yes mother. Go." Zexion said, rolling his eyes.

Axel patted him out the back before opening the door to the bedroom. Zexion followed him out and sat in a chair in the living room, crossing his arms.

"Stop pouting, it's unbecoming." Axel said to Zexion. "Hey, Samantha. I'll be back later. Make sure Grumpypants here stays out of trouble."

"Stop calling me that!" Zexion yelled. Samantha giggled.

"Sure thing, Axel. Be safe out there."

Axel saluted to her and went out the door.

* * *

><p>Axel had no idea where he was going. This wasn't even a thought out or clever plan. He was convinced that luck was on his side based on how things were going. It may have faltered at the mall, but he still had luck.<p>

He had been walking for quite awhile and his feet were beginning to hurt. At that point, he was certain that he was lost.

A building caught his eye that had several teenaged people coming out of it. They were all laughing and talking and getting into huge, yellow vehicles. Axel felt himself being drawn to the place and next thing he knew, he was by the vehicles.

"Are you lost?" were the words that broke him from his daze. He looked slightly down at the girl who had asked him the question.

"Holy shit, Tryxel!" he shouted.

"Excuse me, what?" the girl responded, eyes going wide.

"Tryxel! You really don't remember? Shit, this is bad, don't worry though, I've had experience with this." The girl took several steps back.

"Experience with what?" she asked, wishing she had never approached the guy. He had such bright red hair though, and all she could think of is what Ariel had told her about her dreams.

"Where's Rex?" he asked, a little calmer.

"Who?"

"You guys are always together!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms.

"…..Um, I may know who are referring to…. She isn't around."

"Where the hell is she? Tryxel, don't back away! Sorry." Axel stopped and took a deep breath.

"I'm not Tryxel… my name is Tyler." the girl said, giving up.

"Ohhh that must be your Somebody name… Sorry, ignore that. What is your friend's name?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" Tyler asked defensively.

"Wow, you're as fiery as Zexion. Ah! Wait until I tell Zexion! Hey, what is this place?" Axel asked.

"Sir, I am going to miss my bus. I gotta go, bye!" Tyler said quickly and ran away.

"Tyler! No! I need to find your friend! FUCK!"

Axel ran his hand through his hair in distress. So, he was no smoother than Zexion with this.

"Damn failures." he muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p>"So, how old are you?" Samantha asked Zexion. She had sat on the arm of the couch near Zexion and was leaning dangerously close.<p>

"Uh… 18? 19? Technically…." he answered. In truth, he had no idea how old he really was and this woman was making him uncomfortable. Samantha giggled.

"You're funny… I can work with 18." she said in a near purr. Zexion shifted in his seat.

"W-What do you mean?" he stuttered, finally looking at her. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"I mean you, silly." she said in a seductive tone.

"I, uh, no…" Zexion said, moving her hand.

"No?" she repeated, blinking at him and forcing a smile.

"I am kind of spoken for." he said, looking away from her again.

"Kind of?" This time, her smile was gone.

"Well, yes. I just, don't know where she is currently." Zexion said. There was a brief silence before Samantha stood up.

"You don't have to lie you know. That's a very childish thing to do." she said angrily.

"I am being completely honest with you, Samantha. I would not lie, despite my general discomfort toward your advances."

Samantha stared at him for a while before she relaxed and smiled.

"I get it now. You're just shy. How cute is that?" she said. "Well okay Zexion. Sorry I made you uncomfortable." she said, pinching his cheek. Zexion twitched at the gesture.

"I'm going to do my laundry. You can come downstairs if you get lonely." she winked and left the room.

Zexion sighed and sunk down in his seat.

He really wished Axel hadn't left him there.


	13. Oops

***sigh* This really is getting nowhere. It's like a million filler chapters. I apologize. I keep having so much to do and yet trying to force out chapters and I feel like I'm just losing my writing skills...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Oops<strong>

Axel entered the house and sighed, plopping down on the couch.

Zexion thought he had heard the door open and silently left the bedroom Samantha had lent to him and Axel. He made sure to look both ways before creeping towards the stairs and peaking down to the first floor. He nearly ran down the steps when he saw the familiar red head of hair sitting on the couch.

"VIII, I am going with you next time. I cannot stay here alone with-"

"Zexion? Who are you talking to?" came Samantha's voice. Zexion jumped up from the couch but Samantha had already entered the room.

"Oh, hey, Axel. I didn't hear you come in." she said with a smile.

Axel looked up at Zexion with confusion and pulled him back down on the couch.

"Yeah, I just got in a few seconds ago. Did Zexion behave himself?" Axel asked with mock seriousness.

"Oh yeah, totally." Samantha said, turning her head to roll her eyes. Axel tipped his head at her, not missing the expression. She turned back to them with a peppy smile on her face.

"Hey, do you guys like pizza?"

* * *

><p>Ariel peered through the peep hole of her front door, slightly afraid of whomever was knocking so insistently on her door. Her mom had just stepped out literally a minute ago. She opened the door and Tyler flew in the house.<p>

"Tsuin! I.. lost.. my.. phone.. but… the guy!" she gasped out, finally pausing to catch her breath.

"What guy? Did someone chase you or something?" Ariel asked, immediately going into protective mode. Tyler shook her head.

"No! When I was going to my bus, a guy with bright red hair came looking for you. _Bright red hair_,"

Ariel's eyes went wide and she quickly locked the door.

"Where did he go after that?" she asked.

"I don't know. I ran to the bus. Guess I dropped my phone then." the other girl responded with frustration.

Right then and there, Ariel's cellphone rang. She went and grabbed it off the couch, looking at the screen with an unreadable expression before looking up at Tyler.

"You're somehow calling me right now."

* * *

><p>"I do not want to."<p>

"Come _on_! Don't be such a jerk off!"

"This is _your_ beloved XIV, you call her." Zexion replied, shoving the phone back into Axel's face. "I told you I do not react well to cellular device components."

"It's _your_ beloved's phone! Ah! Just do it. I'm all awkward and you're all… smart!"

"…You are bold and loud and-"

"Okay! I just don't want to do it! I don't want to be proven wrong if it isn't her." Axel said, tossing the phone to Zexion. "Just press the button."

Zexion stared at Axel for a long time before sighing and pressing the button and putting the phone to his ear. As soon as the person on the other end answered, he froze, not expecting that voice at all.

"Hello? You picked up my phone whoever you are, and why are you calling my friend? This is that redhead isn't it?"

"Tr-Tryxel?" Zexion said.

"Tyler!" Axel whispered, far too loud for an actual whisper.

"Tyler, my apologies. Um, yes, I do seem to have your phone, I, uh…" he trailed off his words and ran a hand through his hair.

"So, I'm guessing you were with that guy? What is with the Tryxel stuff? Gah, it doesn't matter, I would like my phone please." Tyler said.

"What's she saying?" Axel loud-whispered again. Zexion shushed him and pushed his face away.

"Would you like to, to meet somewhere to retrieve your phone?" Zexion asked. Axel was nearly jumping up and down.

"Tell her to bring her friend! _Tell her Zexion!_"

"….Look, I don't even know you… I mean, you guys could be trying to kidnap us and…."

"The park… by the, mall I believe it is called? We could meet there. An abundance of people will be there if you do not trust that I am safe. I will not attempt to bring harm to you." Zexion said.

There was a pause on the other line.

"Okay, but seriously. I'm bringing someone with me. And weapons. Just saying." Tyler said finally. Zexion chuckled.

"You will not be needing them. I will head out right now."

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Axel..

"She informed me that she will be bringing someone along," he said with a smirk, "Now stop gawking, you have to go."

* * *

><p>After exchanging a few words with Samantha, the two left the house.<p>

"Make sure you control yourself." Zexion reminded Axel.

"Me? Make sure you remember how to properly function." Axel retorted.

The girls arrived at the park a little before Axel and Zexion did.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea, we should go back. I mean, I can just get another phone. This is really dumb." Tyler said, grabbing Ariel's arm. Ariel shook her head.

"Something keeps telling me we need to stay here." she said.

"What? The part of you that wants to see if this is your dream guy?" Tyler asked. Ariel felt her face heat up slightly.

"Don't put it that way!" she exclaimed before seeing a tall redhead and gasping.

It was the same exact guy from her dreams.

"It is him." she said quietly but Tyler was hardly paying attention.

"Hey! You're who I ran into the other day." Tyler said, pointing at Zexion.

"I… yes I am…" Zexion said, once again stumbling over his words. Axel elbowed him before stepping closer to Ariel who stepped back. He chuckled, putting his hands up in surrender before attempting to converse.

"So, Tyler is it? I am Zexion." the slate haired boy said, extending her phone out to her hand but pulling it away right before she grabbed it. "Wait, do not run away immediately after I give you this, please."

Tyler looked at him quizzically and mumbled a compliance before he once again handed her the phone.

She examined her phone for awhile, trying to ignore Zexion's stare before looking at him again, this time directly. Her heart nearly started beating out of her chest. She quickly looked at the ground.

"Do I… know you or something? You seem familiar. And not just from the mall…" she said, pocketing her phone.

"I-I…. well, in a way…" Zexion said. Tyler tipped her head.

"What do you mean?"

He turned toward the redhead who seemed to be having no trouble chatting with Ariel. It made Zexion want to go strangle the two for being so at ease.

"Number…. A… Axel?" he said to get his attention. Zexion stumbled over the name, knowing it would be odd to refer to him by number. Axel gave him a bewildered look when he turned around.

"Yes, Zexion?" he asked. Zexion nearly got flustered by the look Axel was giving him.

"May I speak with you, over there?" he asked, pointing away from the girls.

"Oh, um, okay. Hey, don't leave." Axel said, holding his hands up to the girls as if they were about to flee at any moment. When they stepped away, Ariel looked at Tyler.

"Why are they treating us to delicately? It's weird." Ariel asked.

"Exactly. _They're_ weird." Tyler responded. Ariel nodded her head in agreement.

After a while of watching, the two appeared to be arguing about something. Axel looked toward the two and pointed, nearing yelling at Zexion. Ariel and Tyler exchanged looks before going inot hysterics.

"See! Now they're laughing at you!" Axel shouted.

"What? You are the one being loud and gesturing like a madman." Zexion responded coolly.

"Because you are ridiculous! We can't just tell them!" Axel exclaimed and then, realizing what he said, quickly covered his mouth.

"Wait, tell us what?" Ariel asked, no longer laughing.

Axel and Zexion stood and stared at the girls with blank expressions.

"What are you talking about?" Zexion inquired. Tyler glared at him.

"I'm talking about whatever you two just were." Ariel said. "What can't you tell us?"

"Oh shit, we've got a pie in the oven. Whoops!" Axel exclaimed, grabbing Zexion and pulling him along. "Come on, Zex! Dessert is calling!"

Ariel and Tyler watched Axel run, literally dragging Zexion, until they faded into the distance.

"They're _so_ weird…" Tyler said. "I like them." she added with a smile.

"Agreed," Ariel said.


	14. The Start Of Something

**Chapter 14: The Start Of… Something**

"That's it! Game over! They think we're fucking insane. They're gonna call someone up to put us in an asylum." Axel rambled on as he pulled at his hair. Zexion walked beside him unamuzed.

"Maybe if someone had not so ridiculously claimed we left a pie in the oven. We wouldn't be in this mess." He replied. Axel glared back at him.

"I had to do something!"

"Something not stupid, yes. That was stupid. We were actually talking to them and you made us run off."

"What has you in such a shitty mood? At least we found them." Axel replied. Zexion's scowl only deepened in response.

"Because you twit we're in a foreign place we do not understand nor know how to live in. Because the 'nice' woman we are residing with will not stop throwing herself into my lap. Because Tryxel and Rexial do not know us… Because Tryxel doesn't even know who I am. How am I supposed to bring back her memories! I was lucky landing her once…Twice will be damnably impossible..." Zexion ranted.

Axel stopped walking looking down at his friend his eyes softening.

"Hey man…I know all right? I don't even know how we're gonna pull through this. We just gotta believe that our girls will remember. They're smart. It'll all work out. It has too." Axel's tone taking on a desperate edge.

"What if it doesn't?"

Axel turned to Zexion grabbing his face and turning it to face him, looking him in the eye.

"It will work. I promise." Axel assured him. Zexion nodded slowly.

"Right, of course."

Axel smiled and the two continued walking. "If Samantha tries anything else I still have my chakrams." He said and winked. Zexion chuckled.

* * *

><p>"I wonder who they are." Tyler wondered. They were back home and the two decided to think about what happened earlier by playing video games. It was kind of their thing.<p>

"I don't know, man. That red head has definitely been dream walking in my head though." Ariel replied as she threw a grenade.

"And you actually talked to him! Since when do you even know how to respond to normal human conversation?" Tyler joked. Ariel swatted at her best friend.

"I totally know how to talk to people. Sometimes…sorta…maybe."

"Exactly. I feel like I know him. Zexion, it's so familiar." Tyler mused.

"Well that's almost normal. Least you don't have a dream walker. I might need to break out the salt."

Tyler rolled her eyes. "God not that again. Your mom was so pissed the last time you put salt everywhere."

"And we're alive as evidence it worked!" said Ariel, "I wonder if they have phones. I bet they don't. How are we supposed to find them?"

"No clue." Tyler's phone began ringing. "It's my aunt." She answered the phone and hung it up almost as quick.

"Great, her and her friend are going out. So she wants me to go house sit because her friend has some people over." Tyler complained.

"It's funny that you think you're going anywhere alone." Ariel said as she gathered up some of her stuff. Tyler laughed.

Nothing would ever separate them.

* * *

><p>"So a friend and I are going out. She's having her niece come over and make sure you two don't wreck the place." Samantha told Axel and Zexion. Axel rolled his eyes.<p>

"No way ma'am!" He said while saluting her.

"Oh here they are! See you boys!" She left and winked at Zexion.

As the door was closing it opened to reveal Tyler and Ariel.

"You two!" Ariel pointed.

"You two!" Axel mimicked. Ariel glared and turned to Tyler.

"How does Samantha come by these weird people?" She whispered. Tyler shrugged. T

he four of them then stood in awkward silence for a couple minutes. Zexion elbowed Axel to do something.

"Right! Well how about we watch a movie?" Axel said while scratching the back of his head nervously.

They then walked into the living room. Tyler sat down and Zexion immediately sat down next to her. Ariel went to complain but Axel was suddenly in her way.

"So what kind of movies do you like? Seems like Samantha has them all." Axel pointed to the movie collection. Ariel went to look and turned to Tyler.

"She has-"

"I'm not watching Lord of the Rings or Star Wars." Tyler cut her off. Ariel pouted and continued looking. Axel and Zexion exchanged a look. Nothing between them has changed at all.

"Batman? Pirates? Underworld?" Ariel called out.

"Something you haven't seen at least five times."

"Blah! Fine. We'll watch Chronicle. You like that one."

Axel sat down next to Zexion while Ariel put the first movie in. She turned the lights off and sat next to Axel. The couch wasn't so large so it wasn't very spacey. It was…cozy.

For the whole beginning of the movie they all sat rim rod straight but then Ariel's back started to hurt and she relaxed, so Tyler did also. This in turn made the boys feel calm.

When the movie was halfway through Tyler and Axel were both yelling at the screen. Ariel was laughing at them and Zexion was having a hard time holding back a smirk. Soon the movie was over at around midnight and Axel was complaining about the end to Tyler.

"It's horrible I know." She was telling him. Ariel had gotten up to pick another movie and Zexion was taking a bathroom break. Ariel barked out a laugh and held up a movie.

"Megashark versus Giant Octopus!" she cackled.

Tyler groaned. "Not another shitty Sci-Fi movie."

"Not shitty! Great! Where's the shorty? We're getting this party started." Ariel declared.

Zexion walked into the room and she cheered. They returned to their normal seats as the movie started.

"I don't understand. It's impossible for any animal to be as large as an airplane hanger." Zexion said when the shark began attacked a ship.

"Don't question it. Ariel can have a pretty shitty taste in movies when she wants to." Tyler mumbled. He chuckled and Tyler smiled at him.

Ariel was too into the movie to hear them. Axel was watching her smiling. That was his girl.

The movie was over and Tyler and Zexion had fallen asleep leaning on each other, at some point they had begun holding hands.

"Holy Hell if that isn't the cutest thing ever." Ariel said while snapping a picture. "And you sir deserve an award. No one ever finishes watching my Sci-Fi movies with me."

"Not a problem. I actually kind of liked them, you know for the laughs." He replied. Ariel beamed at him and he had to resist the urge to kiss her. Instead he yawned and stretched.

"Me too, man. I think it's time for lights out. Samantha won't be back tonight."

Zexion and Tyler had basically taken over the couch and there was only a chair left in the room.

"You take the chair I'll sleep on the floor." Axel said.

"Are you sure?" Ariel asked. He nodded and went to get some blankets. When he came back Ariel was sprawled sideways on the chair and pointing at the floor in front of her shyly.

Axel grinned and after covering Zexion and Tyler up, handed her a blanket and lay on the floor by Ariel.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams." He told her.

"You too, Axel." She replied. They were fast asleep moments later.

* * *

><p>Samantha opened the door to her house quietly.<p>

It was still early in the morning and she didn't want to wake anyone. She walked into the living room and glared at what she saw.

Zexion was curled up with Tyler on the couch, the girl's head laying on his chest.

Jealousy was a bitch.


	15. What Do We Have Here?

**Chapter 15: What Do We Have Here?**

There was a yelp followed by a splash of water taking out a small heartless.

Demyx ran to avoid any more from attacking him and groaned. He hated doing missions.

He ran around a corner and into an alley, ten more heartless popping up as his Sitar automatically appeared in his hand.

"Oh, screw me." he said, opening a dark portal and hopping through. He walked calmly, still on the look out for anything else. Sometimes heartless attacked in the portals.

"I warned Saix that I wasn't up for this today." Demyx said to himself. "I just want to..."

He stopped, noticing something odd about the portal. There was a hole that seemed to be shining with light. The blonde stepped up to it and looked around before sticking a hand into it. His face lit up once he realized his arm went straight through.

"Looks like I found something fun to do."

* * *

><p>Samantha slammed the door behind her. Everyone except Axel jumped into alertness.<p>

"Well isn't that just cute?" she shrieked. Ariel glared at her, it was way too early to be so loud.

"Good morning to you too, Samantha." Zexion said sharply, rubbing his eyes. Tyler was blushing from waking up basically wrapped in the boy's arms.

"Tyler, I'm home now. Meaning you should get out and be out by the time I get back downstairs." Samantha said, storming up the steps.

"What the fuck?" Tyler said. "How rude."

"What is her problem? She has issues to work out." Ariel said, nudging at Axel lightly with her foot. As if an instant reflex, the redhead gripped her foot and rolled over, pulling the girl down to the floor.

"Ouch… what gives?" he said groggily when Ariel landed roughly onto his side. He was very warm. Ariel blushed and got off him while Tyler laughed like it was the most hilarious thing she ever witnessed.

"Hey, be quiet." Ariel said, pulling out her phone and waving it. Tyler blinked at her, confused.

"What's on your phone?" she asked. Ariel just stuck out her tongue and put the phone away.

"Way to sleep through World War III by the way." Tyler said to Axel.

"Wha?" he said, in the middle of going back to sleep. Zexion threw a pillow at him.

"The source of all my discomfort." he said as explanation.

"Samantha? What did she… oh…" Realization hit the suddenly awake Axel. Once it did, he laughed causing a glare from Zexion.

"What's so funny?" Tyler asked.

"Um, nothing…" Zexion said, thinking about how she had reacted to Larxene flirting with him once. Would she even react now?

"Yeah, nothing except throwing herself at Zexion when no one's looking." Axel left.

"Oh." was all Tyler said, moving away from Zexion. It was subtle but noticeable to him. "Hey, Tsuin, maybe we should get going."

"Now? Oh, okay." Ariel said, standing up. Zexion glared at Axel who just smiled back.

"It worked didn't it?" he mouthed before saying out loud, "Ah come on, Samantha is just a lunatic. Stay awhile."

"Showers. More clothes. Etcetera…" Tyler mumbled, standing up. Zexion grabbed her hand.

"Will you come back?" he asked, looking directly in her eyes. Tyler's eyes widened before she looked away quickly.

"Maybe." she answered, looking toward her best friend.

Axel stood up and put an arm around Ariel.

"Well I don't know about them, but, I would love to see you again." he said, flashing a smile. Ariel felt her face heat up and looked at Tyler.

Zexion suppressed a smile, they always checked things with each other.

"Um… how about we meet you guys somewhere else?" Ariel suggested.

"Yeah. That's good." Axel said, with a little too much excitement.

"Except we do not have communication devices. Samantha only has her own." Zexion said.

"Communication devices?" Tyler repeated with amusement.

"Right… I forgot about that. All because Zex here is allergic to them." Axel said, shooting a look at the other boy.

"Allergic to a cell phone?" Tyler was having a hard time processing the information. Zexion's face had turned pink and his fist was covering his mouth, eyes cast to the side.

Ariel noticed his embarrassment and quickly moved the subject.

"Well, why don't you just have one Axel? That wouldn't affect Zexion." she inquired.

"It would because none of us could get one if- uh…" the redhead trailed off and scratched his head. Ariel looked at him quizzically.

"Large family." Zexion said as explanation.

"You two are brothers?" she asked, surprised.

"No!" they shouted in unison.

"Um…. well…. I mean…" Axel decided to stop speaking again. Zexion cleared his throat and looked at a random wall.

"Look, we'll figure out the phone situation and contact you guys." Axel suggested. Ariel and Tyler agreed, giving their phone numbers and leaving the house.

Axel plopped down next to Zexion and gave him a five.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so, no Riku there." Roxas said once he and Sora got back on the Gummi Ship. Sora shook his head.<p>

"I don't understand…" he said sadly.

A sudden surge of sadness hit Roxas right in the chest. He grabbed at where his heart would be.

'Is this how Sora feels right now?'

Not liking the feeling, Roxas decided to change the subject.

"Hey! I haven't started fading or anything weird." he said, brightly. That seemed to perk the brunette back up.

"Wow, you haven't. What does this mean though?" he wondered aloud.

"It means we can act like demented twins and terrorize the others." Roxas suggested with a devious smirk. Sora mocked the grin.

"Well, that means we have to head back to the Castle, now doesn't it?"


	16. Reconnected

**Chapter 16: Reconnected**

Saix walked through a corridor, nearly running into the white haired man before him. He nearly cried out but quickly held his composure.

"Superior," he said bowing.

"Saix, I was just about to seek you out. I am going to attempt to contact VI and VIII." Xemnas said, turning and leading the way back to his office.

Saix followed silently, wondering what type of progress the boys had made if any.

* * *

><p>"Why can't we just tell them who we are when we see them later?" Axel asked.<p>

"Have some patience," Zexion responded. "You say this nearly every ten minutes."

Axel went to complain some more when a high-pitched beeping started at his wrist. Zexion's wristband did the same thing.

"Hey, I forgot about these!" Axel said, quickly pressing a side button. A small holographic screen appeared showing their Superior and Second In Command.

"Xemmy, my man! What's up?" Axel said cheerfully, Zexion simply face palmed beside him.

"VIII, just as ill-mannered as ever. I was hoping for VI to answer. At any rate, I have contacted to make sure you aren't destroying Earth," the Superior said.

"I would not allow that, sir." Zexion said.

"How have things been going with your search?" Saix spoke up.

"I think we found them, Isa!" Axel shouted. Saix nearly growled at the use of his Somebody name.

"There is no thinking to it. We found them. Tyler and Ariel." Zexion said, hardly able to hide his smile.

"So where are they now? Why are you not heading back with them?" Xemnas inquired.

"Because, we can't just take them from here. They have to understand first." Axel said. "They don't remember."

Xemnas and Saix fell silent.

"Very well then. Just, hurry. We do not know how you two will react on Earth for long." Xemnas said.

"Aye, aye, cap'n!" Axel said, saluting.

After a little bit of scolding about Axel's respect level, they ended the connection. Zexion seemed to be thinking about something and inspecting his communicator. Axel raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing now?" he asked, seeing the other boy's expression.

"I wonder…" Zexion said, mostly to himself. He stood up and left the room suddenly. Axel watched him leave, confused.

"O-kay," he said, sitting back and turning on the TV.

* * *

><p>Riku had felt lost for quite some time.<p>

He knew he was Riku, that the sun gave him migraines, and that he was out for revenge; or so said the voice in his head.

He knew who he needed to find, he just didn't know where they were and recently, the voice told him that he was close. Now, finding one would mean finding them all.

The voice had kept him alive for all this time. It was never wrong.

_Go through a portal. Go however far you think you should go. They're near, Riku._

Riku smiled to himself. So this was it.

He opened a portal and walked through it, almost feeling the thrill of where this would lead.

* * *

><p>Demyx looked around dark, concrete room.<p>

'_Where am I?' _he thought to himself. He wandered around until he found a large open area with an exit sign near it. He continued to walk, only to meet with a shiny, black thing on wheels.

A horn honked at him as he squealed a fled the area.

"Watch it, dumbass!" a person yelled from the vehicle.

"_Well_…" Demyx said, offended.

He walked on, realizing that there were a lot of people around. All in which were giving him odd looks.

He decided to start smiling and waving at people. Some smiled and waved back, others continued to stare at him as if he were the weirdest thing they'd ever seen.

Demyx started to get nervous and decided he didn't like this world. He turned to discreetly open a portal, but nothing happened. He tried again with the same luck.

No portal meant no escape.

"When in doubt, run." Demyx said, taking off in a random direction. He still had no clue where he was going but he didn't let that stop him.

Seeing a small building with an open door, he quickly ran inside. He stopped to catch his breath before turning around.

"Hello there, boy. Where did you come from?" an old lady asked.

"From The World That Never Was." He responded. The old lady laughed.

"You look like you could use some cookies." she said with a smile, disappearing into another room.

"Cookies?" Demyx echoed, a smile now on his face.

The woman returned with a tray off cookies along with a glass of milk.

"They just came out of the oven so be careful." she said, as Demyx practically drooled over the plate of goods.

Demyx dug in, singing to himself about how delicious the chocolate chip cookies were. The woman watched him before noticing his clothes.

"It's too hot out for all that you're wearing! This just won't do! Stay put, I'll be right back."

Demyx shrugged, gulping down milk while the woman left the room.

She came back with t-shirts and jeans and sat them next to Demyx.

"You can wear these, I don't know why your parents would let you run around in such hot clothes." she commented.

"Parents? Um.. my parents… are… not around?" Demyx said, not sure how to explain himself. The woman's face showed great concerned.

"You live by yourself? Where is your house?" she asked.

"House?"

She was silent for a moment and Demyx was confused. He just wanted more cookies.

"What school do you go to, boy? Do you go to school."

"School?" Demyx asked. "No… and my name is Demyx."

The woman suddenly hugged Demyx.

"You poor child. You will stay here with me from now on, okay? You must be so lost." She said.

"I am lost…" Demyx said, agreeing. Still completely confused.

"We can go buy you clothes and school supplies and I'll get you into school by Monday morning." the woman beamed. "Here, I'll show you to your new room."

"Can I have cookies afterwards?" Demyx asked, following her.

* * *

><p>Axel finally went to check on Zexion who had disappeared for quite a while.<p>

Just as he was about to open the door to their room, Zexion opened the door, causing the red head to fall through.

"Axel, get off the floor. I've discovered something." Zexion said. "Give me the girls' numbers."

Axel got up and handed him the piece of paper that Ariel had given him. Zexion took it and sat on the bed, fiddling with the communicator.

The hologram screen popped up, displaying that it was connecting. Tyler's face appeared on the hologram.

"Zexion?" Tyler said. "Hey."

"Hello Tyler. Seems we have figured out how to contact you." Zexion responded. Axel appeared behind him.

"Hi Tyler! Where's Ariel?" he asked. Tyler laughed a little before informing him that she was at her own house. Axel deflated and plopped down on the bed.

"You don't have cells, yet you're calling me through a video chat?" Tyler said quizzically.

"It is.. complicated. At any rate, where would you like us to meet you two?" Zexion asked.

"Hmm… that mall I saw you at before. Around, 6?" she suggested with a smile. Zexion nearly stopped breathing.

"Sure… 6…" he said breathily.

"Okay! See you soon, then!" Tyler said.

"Yeah, soon." Zexion replied, ending the connection. Axel laughed.

"Oh my Kingdom Hearts, she said 6! Squueeee!" Axel said in a mocking tone, laughing harder. Zexion glared and smacked him with a pillow.

"Now I'm not showing you how to contact Ariel." Zexion said, storming off. Axel choked on his laugh, scrambling to chase after the boy.

"Hey! No! Zexy! I was kidding!"


	17. Do I Know You?

**Wow. It has been forever. I lost the drive to write for the longest time, and starting college really had me tired out. Weird because I had college classes before O.o ... HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :3**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: Do I Know You?<strong>

Demyx looked around the building swarming with teenagers. He didn't really know what to do.

He watched a girl walk up to a metal door, twist a knob, and pull it open. Demyx shrugged and walked up to the one next to her, mimicking her actions except, his metal door wouldn't open.

After several tries, he groaned in frustration and kicked it. That girl made it look so easy!

"Hey," he heard, followed by a laugh. It was the girl next to him "Are you having trouble?"

"Yeah, it won't open." Demyx said, sadly.

"Well, can I see your locker combination?" she asked.

"Locker combination?" he repeated. The girl nodded.

"Yeah, did the office assign you one? They should have written it down for you…"

"Oh that! Yeah, I wasn't paying her much attention." Demyx pulled the slip of paper out of his pocket. The girl took it and laughed again.

"Your locker is on the opposite side," she said, walking towards it. "My name is Demara by the way."

"Cool! My name is Demyx! We're basically name twins." he said. Demara laughed.

She showed Demyx his locker and explained how to use the combination to open it.

"Do you have your books yet?" she asked.

"Nope, Ms. Office Lady told me to get settled first." Demyx responded, finding his class schedule. "Guess I have to find all these places."

"I can help you. Might as well make one friend on your first day." Demara said.

"Thanks a lot. You're so nice."

* * *

><p>"Why is she making us go get this stuff?" Axel pouted, kicking up dust as he walked along with Zexion.<p>

"Because she was busy." Zexion said.

"She was sitting on her ass glaring at us doing _absolutely nothing_!" Axel yelled. Once he did, a small patch of grass ahead of them caught fire. It quickly began to spread toward them.

"You did that!" Zexion shouted.

"No I didn't!" Axel shouted back. The fire grew higher.

"Turn it off!"

"I'm not Demyx, dipshit!"

"Get… something! Just… come on!" Zexion grabbed Axel and ran in another direction. Axel laughed as they ran into an alley.

"What is _so_ funny about the fact that you're about to destroy this town?" Zexion asked, darkly.

"I didn't think I had it in me anymore." Axel responded, still chuckling. "This is pure joy, Zex."

"Shut. Up."

"_Sounds like a plan._" A whispery, gravelly voice said, sounding like someone who hadn't spoken in years.

Zexion was suddenly thrown roughly against a brick wall in the alley. His forehead slammed against the brick and he slumped down. His vision blacked out momentarily and his head felt like it was spinning.

Axel spun around to see whoever had attacked the shorter boy. The attacker had whitish-silver hair and his movements were followed by blurs of black tendrils.

The redhead ran at him, knocking him out of the way before he could land another hit on Zexion. He fell against a dumpster with a grunt. Axel helped Zexion up who still seemed woozy.

Axel didn't have time to comment on the fact that Zexion's head was bleeding before his face showed a mixture of shock and wonder before becoming feral. He ran forward and attacked the other boy.

The redhead wasn't sure what to do. He was in shock, considering he had never seen the slate-haired boy fight with just his fists.

"Zexion!" he called finally, attempting to break the two apart.

He pulled Zexion away but the other came at him again. Axel grabbed his arms to stop him.

"_This is my time for revenge,_" came the forced out voice again.

"Revenge?" Axel took that moment to actually look at the culprit's face.

"…Riku?!"

* * *

><p>Ariel was in a good mood. She, Tyler, Axel, and Zexion had spent the whole evening together. It was really fun and Axel was a complete sweetheart.<p>

She stopped thinking that immediately. He _was_ still that same creep from her dreams. But then again, maybe that was a sign…

Classes had gone by quickly too and she was ready to hang out with Axel again after school.

She went to her locker, vaguely noticing a boy that she'd never seen before at the locker next to hers. A sense of familiarity hit her when she looked at him. She shook her head and continued to open her locker and grab her hoodie.

"UGH!" the boy exclaimed in distress and kicked his locker. Ariel jumped. "I swear I hate these things."

The boy finally noticed her there.

"Oh! Sorry for scaring you, can you help me?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. What's your combination?" she asked.

"10-24-13," he responded. Ariel turned the lock and opened the locker.

"Right, left and skip, right…. I'll never remember that. Thanks," he said.

"…Do I know you?" Ariel asked, finally.

"Uh…" Demyx looked at her again, his eyes lit up this time. "Rexial! It's me! Demyx!"

"My name isn't Rexial…" Ariel responded. Demyx frowned.

"You don't remember…"

"Tsuin~" a voice called, a little down the hall.

Tyler got to Ariel and Demyx and looked at him with curiousity.

"This, is Demyx." Ariel said, turning to him again.

"Do I know you?" Tyler asked.


	18. Not a Chapter, Update, My Apologies

I am highly doubting anyone is even looking for this fic anymore, it never had a large following to begin with, but for anyone out there who is, I deeply apologize for the long delay.

At first it was a matter of writer's block and then it turned into simply being too busy to sit down and think of the next chapter. I know how I want the story to go, but things aren't piecing together from even _Pyrofuric Berserk… _so I came up with a solution…

I will be rewriting the whole thing. Yes, the entire thing starting with the first fic. I go back to read it and cringe about everything from character development to plot to the writing skill in general. I cannot continue until it is better written and makes more sense for the future of the story.

Again, my deepest apologizes and…

Happy Berserker Day (7.15)

XV


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